It seems that the PLAAF has started to convert some of its IL-76 for refueling purposes. China now has 17 IL-76 planes in its inventory and with the Y-9 in full production and with the Y-20 in the prototype and testing phase China can afford to divert at least a few of its existing IL-76 planes for refueling. The Y-9 is capable to carry out most of the PLA's airlift duties for now. As those airlift activities of the PLA are mostly domestic in nature. Three other IL-76 are being used for a AWACS platform (KJ-2000) that leaves the PLAAF with 14 planes to work with. I would say perhabs 3 or 4 IL-76 will be converted for refueling use.
China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft
- Thread starter Totoro
- Start date
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
China got 14 units between 1990 and 2000 and then four were converted to the KJ-2000
Then China got another 3 units in 2012 and another 10 are in place they are used ones
So in total China will have 14+3+10= 27 aircraft eventually
They can have the four for AWACS and four for tanker duties that's still 19 for cargo missions
Apparently they ordered 3 Il-78s to be converted from the 10 Il-76s they ordered from various sources.
So the Il-78 aren't from PLAAFs existing Il-76 fleet
they are from Ukraine's own inventory of IL-78s rather than converted from the refurbished IL-76s that PLAAF ordered.
Some of those IL-76s from 90s probably need to be retired soon.
There is also some talk that there could be more than 3 IL-78s coming, so we will see.
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Also I read that the next 10 that are on order out of those 5 units are coming from Belarus
i wonder how much is plaaf flying those il76. they're supposedly designed for 20-30 thousand hour lifespan, without modifications. US c17 fleet, for example, flies 1000-1500 hours per plane per year. is plaaf doing as much flying as usaf? or half that figure? or even less?
knowing that might provide an insight in how many hours chinese il76 have left in them.
knowing that might provide an insight in how many hours chinese il76 have left in them.
asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Let's remember that the IL-76 is a lumbering and outdated aircraft and does not compare well with the likes of the C-17 Globemaster which can easily clock 30,000 hours without a life extension programme I very highly doubt that IL-76 can do the same
Even with a full glass cock pit, upgraded avionics and a new engines it's still not good enough to compare with a true heavy lifter like the C-17 or the Y-20 for that matter, as a matter of fact I would also find it hard to beat a C-130J
Don't look down on it that much. It is a capable heavy lifter. And it is the ONLY heavy lifter that China has right now.
It's the IL76s that are modified to turn into KJ2000s.
It's the IL76s that flew to Libya to carry our fellow countrymen back in times of crisis.
It's the IL76s that flew to Perth to search for debris of MH370.
Now it's the IL76s that are providing strategic air-refueling capabilities for the PLAAF.
As of now, NO other aircraft in the PLAAF inventory can do any of the above tasks. And NO other similar aircrafts (C17, in this case), can be readily bought by the PLAAF. And NO other indigenous aircraft (Y20) is readily available for production at this point.
As much as there are drawbacks of the platform: lifespan, engines, ageing airframe for some refitted ones, a small diameter body as compared to C17 and Y20, it still is and will still be the ONLY heavy lifting platform that PLAAF needs so badly in years to come while the Y20 is tested and developed.
As much as C130J is a very capable and very advanced tactical transport aircraft, it simply does not perform and are never meant to perform the roles of a IL76. Another thing to bear in mind is price: we paid 44 million USD for THREE IL78s, meanwhile ONE C130J costs 60 million USD and even if we are willing to pay, we can't.
Furthermore, I doubt a long lifespan will be of a lot of importance to the PLAAF. Y20 is in the works and with the planes being this cheap--it simply does not matter that much. Even if there's only a few years of lifespan left, it's still needed and worth to pay at this price--at least that's how I see the PLAAF deems it so.
After a few years the Y20 would be ready, even if the early version is going to be fitted with D30 engines, so the drawbacks really don't matter that much in lieu of this.
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So China has 17 IL-76 from the 90's and they bought 10 second hand IL-76 last year. They now have another 3 IL-78 refueling planes. That makes it 30 and they want to buy another 10 second hand planes. Thats 40 planes in total but with some of the 90's planes maybe going into retirement they will have a fleet of 23 to 35 heavy airlift transporters at their disposal.
The Y-20 won't go into production for at least another 5 years if not longer. They will have to fill the gap with second hand planes as best as they can uptill then.
The Y-20 won't go into production for at least another 5 years if not longer. They will have to fill the gap with second hand planes as best as they can uptill then.