Transport aircraft is a strategic force that determines the success or failure of modern wars with fast, powerful and unexpected intensity
On July 6, 2016, the Chinese Air Force officially commissioned two Xian Y-20 heavy transport aircraft
which is said to bring the country's strategic air force into a new era
Transport aircraft such as C-5, C-17, although extremely powerful
the increase in scale for large transport aircraft has never stopped
and is considered one of the strategic forces that have the importance of transferring vehicles, equipment, weapons and soldiers to the battlefield
Project Y-20 has been implemented since 2006, codenamed Kunpeng
The aircraft is applied many composite materials made in China instead of having to be imported as before
The Y-20 is expected to become the main strategic military transport aircraft of the Chinese Air Force in the future
and they even dream of surpassing the Russian IL-76
Up to now, many sources believe that China has at least 20 strategic transport aircraft Y-20, including 8 prototypes
When completed, the Y-20 has a length of 47 m, a wingspan of 50 m, an empty weight of 100 tons, and a maximum takeoff weight of 180 tons
It is powered by four Soloviev D-30KP-2 turbofan engines
It is reported that the Y-20 has begun to integrate indigenous WS-20 engines from 2020
The Y-20 can reach a top speed of Mach 0.75, a range of 7,800km, and a service ceiling of 13,000m
For its general outward configuration, Xian engineers elected for several notable tried-and-true design elements when constructing their Y-20
design elements pioneered in the successful American Lockheed C-141 Starlifter of the 1960s
The Chinese design relies a deep and wide fuselage for its cargo hold with the flight deck at the extreme front and a "T-style" tail
with high-mounted horizontal planes at the rear
This allows the tail section to be elevated from the ground and afford access to a rear powered cargo door when accepting or extracting various cargo types
A large collection of rubber tires are added to the reinforced main landing gear legs -a total of twelve wheels - to support the sheer mass of the airframe
The nose is supported by a standard two-wheeled leg unit
The undercarriage is said to comply with expected "rough-field" operations - a requirement of such aircraft in the modern world
The Y-20 is given high-mounted monoplane wings with slight sweep along their leading edges and lesser sweep along their trailing edges
This allows engine nacelles to be fitted as underslung units
two to a wing, and provide the ground clearance needed for an aircraft expected to have much traffic around itself when landed
Wings feature triple-slotted trailing edge flaps and full-span slats which
when coupled with the high-mounted wings and basic four-engined arrangement
allows for the required operational ranges as well as strong low-speed handling and performance characteristics
Cargo is loaded through a large aft ramp that accommodates rolling stock
The Y-20's four-meter tall hold can lift up to 66 tons, and transport up to 2 Type 15 tanks or 1 Type 99A tank over a distance of 7,800km
No doubt there will be support for seating in the transport of combat-ready infantry elements and airborne units
Standard crew includes a pilot, a co-pilot and a loadmaster
China's Xian Y-20 was first deployed on a large scale to supply human and material resources to Wuhan during the "great crisis" because of the corona virus
China's effort is to use the Y-20 to establish an air bridge to transfer manpower and material to Wuhan to fight against the increasingly widespread pandemic