China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft
- Thread starter Totoro
- Start date
Hmm.... Does that remind anyone of another third-party-funded, "Russian-developed" aviation project? Yes, I think it's called the PAK-FA and here's what the cash cow in that project has had to say about it; "[We] should not let ourselves be taken advantage of by the Russians as we are paying half the FGFA's developmental costs".
I really don't think China should invest too much into this project. China needs to limit the amount of money that she contributes and should also have a domestic alternative in the quite-possible event that this venture fails. If there's one thing China can learn from India, it's to always have a domestic alternative when collaborating with foreign countries.
I think China has the capability to absorb the technological contributions of the Russians.
China always does that, we call it "walk using two legs". One refers to domestic one refers to foreign.
China is familiar with this kind of incidents and had plenty of experience with it. The J8-2 project with Americans was cancelled due to Tiananmen incident, the KJ2000 project with Israel was cancelled because of American pressure, and the IL76 project was delayed for god knows how many years, the China-Europe positioning satellite cooperation as well as space station cooperation all ended in failure.
But look we finished developing the J8-2 on our own nonetheless, we finished developing the KJ2000 and many other AWACS on our own nonetheless, we now have our own Y20 so that we don't have to wait another round for the IL76s, and we already have a functioning constellation of Beidou while the Europeans are struggling to launch even a handful of them due to disagreements. Oh, and by 2020 the ISS will retire and our space station will be the only one up there.
Trust me, and trust the guys in China working on this project, we know what the Russians are made of, and we surely have a plan B.
After a bit of digging, I find that the Il-78 has wing tanks (i.e.: not including internal cargo hold tanks) large enough to hold 109,500 litres of fuel, which is close to KC-135's 118,000 litres. Both are 190 tons and 146 tons MTOW respectively. (USAF's next gen KC-46 also has a fuel capacity of 120,000+ litre fuel capacity with an internal payload at of 29.5 tons and MTOW of 188 tons).
Of course, Il-78 has the ability to carry heavier internal cargo than a KC-135, and I imagine Il-78's structural design also adds to its weight.
I wonder, if Y-20 with a MTOW of 220 tons, can act as an acceptable tanker without internal fuel tanks; i.e.: only with the addition of external fuel pods. Hopefully with some forethought during the design phase they had chosen a large internal fuel capacity approaching that of A330 MRTT. So I wonder how viable it would be for all Y-20s to have the capability to act as both cargo haulers and tankers. It would greatly enhance PLAAF refuelling capability if every new Y-20 could also offload fuel.
I imagine it could be achieved through an add-on console/module near the cockpit, with design of fuselage pods to have integrated rear facing cameras that displays videos to the operator/coordinator at their console to assist the refuelling procedure, similar to modern air refuellers where it is all done electronically.
Of course, Il-78 has the ability to carry heavier internal cargo than a KC-135, and I imagine Il-78's structural design also adds to its weight.
I wonder, if Y-20 with a MTOW of 220 tons, can act as an acceptable tanker without internal fuel tanks; i.e.: only with the addition of external fuel pods. Hopefully with some forethought during the design phase they had chosen a large internal fuel capacity approaching that of A330 MRTT. So I wonder how viable it would be for all Y-20s to have the capability to act as both cargo haulers and tankers. It would greatly enhance PLAAF refuelling capability if every new Y-20 could also offload fuel.
I imagine it could be achieved through an add-on console/module near the cockpit, with design of fuselage pods to have integrated rear facing cameras that displays videos to the operator/coordinator at their console to assist the refuelling procedure, similar to modern air refuellers where it is all done electronically.
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asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Ok I count 14 IL-76 originally delivered
4 converted to the KJ-2000 AWACS programme
Another 3 delivered 2012
Another 10 in process of delivery
So thats 14+3+ 10 to total 27 x IL-76
With 4 as AWACS they have 23 x IL-76 for transport that's actually a good fleet for transport
Plus they have 3 x IL-78 tankers for delivery with one delivered
This means the total fleet in China for IL-76/78 is 30 units
4 converted to the KJ-2000 AWACS programme
Another 3 delivered 2012
Another 10 in process of delivery
So thats 14+3+ 10 to total 27 x IL-76
With 4 as AWACS they have 23 x IL-76 for transport that's actually a good fleet for transport
Plus they have 3 x IL-78 tankers for delivery with one delivered
This means the total fleet in China for IL-76/78 is 30 units
by78
General
Ohhh I want this image in full sizeand true colours
Deino
Ohhh I want this image in full size
Deino
The image quality of the original was very poor. The photo was under-exposed and very blurry due to an overcast sky and low-light conditions. That's why the photographer didn't upload the original.
Below is one of the photos from the same sequence (note the navigation lights):
(3648x2056)
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