XAC Y-20 Kunpeng strategic transport aircraft

摘要

Images posted on Chinese social media in early June suggest that at least one Xian Aircraft Corporation (XAC) Y-20U tanker aircraft has entered service with an as-yet-unidentified unit of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The Y-20U features hose-and-drogue refuelling pods that are likely based on Russian-made UPAZ-1A pods, which are used on the PLAAF's Ilyushin Il-78M tanker aircraft. Two of the refuelling pods on the Y-20U are mounted under the outer wings, while the third one is on the rear fuselage. The Y-20U is a second-generation Chinese aerial refuelling aircraft and is expected to become the PLAAF's standard tanker by replacingthe service's legacy XAC H-6U and Il-78M fleets. The Y-20U could also be adopted by the People's Liberation Army Navy to replace that service's H-6DU tanker aircraft. Satellite images of the XAC plant in China's Shaanxi Province captured earlier this year indicate that the company is also producing a new variant of the Y-20 heavy transport aircraft - known as the Y-20B - fitted with Shenyang WS20 high-bypass turbofan engines.