China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft - esp. Y-20/YY-20

Surgeon said:

Cleaned it up a bit

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That's just the same AI enhanced picture posted previously in the thread.
It's not "cleaned up" but rather "misleading" because AI enhancement doesn't actually restore details but rather assumes/extrapolates what might look plausible rather than actually showing what is there.

Surgeon said:

Cleaned it up a bit

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The main gear compartment fairings are different on both sides.

Blitzo said:

That's just the same AI enhanced picture posted previously in the thread.
It's not "cleaned up" but rather "misleading" because AI enhancement doesn't actually restore details but rather assumes/extrapolates what might look plausible rather than actually showing what is there.

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I do apologise , thought it was genuine

Schwerter_ said:

Apologies for (again!) being the annoying dickhead but technically airfoil refers to the cross-section shape of a wing, I presume you’re referring to the wing planar shape being similar to that of the A-130 (both having essentially zero sweep)?

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It is Y-8C test aircraft with 2 or 4 AEP500 engines. Testing of engines with 6 or 8 blade propellers is going on. It is one of those pictures. Y-15 for load of 35-45 can have 2 jet engine version or 4 turboprop engines. It's subsystems such as AEP1000 engine and 8 blade might be in testing phase. But ultimate fuselage would appear in 2026. We would see elongated Y-20B in 2026 also. Most probably it would be with jet engines. Turboprop version would be like 100 aircrafts for strategic and battle field needs only. It is as per PLAAF discussions in social media in China.

Y-15 (Previously discussed as Y-30) is going on for 10-15 years. Now in 3 months it has picked up the pace. Most are of opinion to have a better aircraft then C-2, that needs 2 tubofan engines. For strategic airlifr and battlefield environment require 4 turboprop engine aircraft. If both are produced then turboprop version would be in low 100s but jet engine version might reach 200 aircrafts. Real picture would emerge in 2026.

GiantPanda said:

It's a prototype but similar tone to IL-76/KJ-2000 behind it. I remember seeing a line up of a row of Y-20s with different tones.

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The gray of the early Y-20s differs from the pale blue of the IL-76; it is actually a deeper shade. You can see this gray Y-20 in the Wuhan base photo. In contrast, all aircraft at the Dangyang base feature nearly the same color scheme.

The straight wing implies a performance closer to the C-130/Y-8 than A400M with size closer to the former than the later to match, probably prioritizing STOL capability over cruising speed with a focus on being able to handle the Tibetan plateau on a hot day.

The winglets also points towards this as they also enable increased climb performance and is not just about fuel consumption(which is why most turboprops don't have winglets as they are already low on fuel consumption relative to jet engines if that were to be the focus).

All of this compounded with what seems a really beefy landing gear for its size seems put further emphasis on austere airfield operations at really high altitudes that might require manouvering in tight spots(straight wings offer better low speed handling).

Mekconyov said:

It is Y-8C test aircraft with 2 or 4 AEP500 engines. Testing of engines with 6 or 8 blade propellers is going on. It is one of those pictures. Y-15 for load of 35-45 can have 2 jet engine version or 4 turboprop engines. It's subsystems such as AEP1000 engine and 8 blade might be in testing phase. But ultimate fuselage would appear in 2026. We would see elongated Y-20B in 2026 also. Most probably it would be with jet engines. Turboprop version would be like 100 aircrafts for strategic and battle field needs only. It is as per PLAAF discussions in social media in China.

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Mekconyov said:

Y-15 (Previously discussed as Y-30) is going on for 10-15 years. Now in 3 months it has picked up the pace. Most are of opinion to have a better aircraft then C-2, that needs 2 tubofan engines. For strategic airlifr and battlefield environment require 4 turboprop engine aircraft. If both are produced then turboprop version would be in low 100s but jet engine version might reach 200 aircrafts. Real picture would emerge in 2026.

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No.

There won't be separate, turboprop-powered and turbofan-powered variants of the Y-15. There will only be one turboprop-powered variant of the Y-15.

And the Y-15 will not be in the same airlifter class as the A400M and C-2 either.

So how does the Y-15 with Y-9's camo look like? AI-generated photo posted by @WenJian0922 on Twitter.

ACuriousPLAFan said:

So how does the Y-15 with Y-9's camo look like? AI-generated photo posted by @WenJian0922 on Twitter.

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I must say I preferred it back in the day when artists would take effort to draw a speculative paint scheme or depiction of a brand new aircraft rather than just taking the output from generative AI, even if a drawing was quick and dirty.

It really is so soulless and even with open acknowledgement of its AI status it just ends up muddying the waters a bit.