Well they didn't go through with it so it was one of those paper commitments that in reality is pretty meaningless. It was probably just a hedge your bets move in case Y-20B ran into unforeseen difficulties. Given that it didn't cost them much it's not an unreasonable decision.
China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft - esp. Y-20/YY-20
- Thread starter Totoro
- Start date
Accounting to Hole Hole aka Chengdu Gay Guy, and Shilao, the document is likely to be real, but unlikely to be fulfilled. Apparently there were some difficulties with the delivery of Y-20B at the time
Pelosi visit to Taiwan in late 2022 changed the entire scenario.. PLAAF at that time severely lacking air refueling tankers. Y-20B was in testing process and had some difficulties. so they considered why not to buy from Russia to fulfil the urgent requirement. document clearly says, ''considered'' .. so i think PLAAF decided to stick with Y-20 development due to various reasons. as you mentioned one main point.
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Didn't Russia originally refuse to sell AL-41F engines to China? They had concerns that China was only interested in reverse-engineering those engines. Allegedly, they agreed to provide the engines only if it was part of a large Su-35 order. The whole transaction felt more like an indirect technology transfer. It seemed like China bought all those Su-35 just so their engineers can take a peek at the AL-41F.
Maybe this flirtation with the IL-78MK-90A was the same thing. Didn't Russia also refuse to sell PS-90A engines to China? Once the WS-20 engines entered service, the Russians may have become less guarded about letting Chinese engineers study the PS-90A engine. But the Russians would only agree to provide the engine if it was part of a large IL-78MK-90A order, just like they did with the AL-41F and Su-35.
I can't think of any plausible reason why China would be ordering Russian IL-78 fuel tankers.
Maybe this flirtation with the IL-78MK-90A was the same thing. Didn't Russia also refuse to sell PS-90A engines to China? Once the WS-20 engines entered service, the Russians may have become less guarded about letting Chinese engineers study the PS-90A engine. But the Russians would only agree to provide the engine if it was part of a large IL-78MK-90A order, just like they did with the AL-41F and Su-35.
I can't think of any plausible reason why China would be ordering Russian IL-78 fuel tankers.
Yeah if I remember correctly China did just want to buy AL-41 directly but Russia insisted on Su-35 order. Then the question became how many Su-35, Russia wanted 48+, China wanted 24. This dragged things out for a while but eventually China got its way and it got 24 Su-35, and indeed a big motivator for this order was to get AL-41, not necessarily to copy it or anything but to get better understanding and development of engines.
This seems less likely though as the Su-35 situation was mid-2010s when China's engine program was a lot less developed and suffering through things like early WS-10 issues. By 2022 the situation was different so I don't think getting a look at the engine was really a major motivation for such an order. Even if the order was finalized in 2022 deliveries would still take time and then obviously more time would be needed for Chinese engineers to study the engines, integrate what they learned into Chinese engines, test and validate the new engines, etc. This process would take years and Y-20B was right around the corner so it seems unlikely. Most likely as others have stated above it was a hedge against Y-20B not working out for some reason or Pelosi's visit to Taiwan resulted in major escalation and those tankers were needed ASAP or something.
Is it because the YY-20A is actually a modular dual tanker-transport (possibly carrying less fuel), whilst the IL-78MK is a specialised tanker carrying more fuel over longer distances?
Excerpt from an academic paper, depicting CFD simulations on what looks to be a high-wing, dual engine aircraft. Posted by SOYO and @雨落惊心 on Weibo.
Perhaps a counterpart to the C-2? C-390? Or a larger An-148/158?
Perhaps a counterpart to the C-2? C-390? Or a larger An-148/158?
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Excerpt from a research paper, focusing on the study of ground vortex phenomenon at the engine's air intake, which can cause damage to the engine by ingesting foreign objects like sand and dust through the development of a full-scale 3D simulation model.
This paper (indirectly) affirms the Y-20(B)'s ability to conduct takeoff and landing on unpaved runways. Posted by SOYO on Weibo.
This paper (indirectly) affirms the Y-20(B)'s ability to conduct takeoff and landing on unpaved runways. Posted by SOYO on Weibo.
