China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft

davidau said:

you seem to repeat posting some images of planes, ships etc, but no one complaints.

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by78 said:

Didn't you just complain? Are you no one?

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supersnoop said:

I’m going to preface this by saying this will be getting into the realm of off topic then and might be better served in the civilian aviation industry thread.

However, I am interested in the topic and would like to learn more myself.

My amateur opinion... For civil applications, it’s really tough to justify XL sized planes, look at the failure of the A380. The huge population of Asia was supposed to be the ideal market, but it just didn’t work out that way in practice. On the cargo side, it’s significantly cheaper to get used 747 or 767 than a whole new plane. The efficiency of a larger plane simply can’t match the savings in up front capital cost. Even from the military standpoint, there was a desire for Boeing to keep building C-17 (though not enough firm orders), but no one is saying more C-5’s are needed.

If you think of it this way, self reliance is not simply the ability to do everything yourself. There is also economic self reliance and whether the cost is justified or you could be better off spending that money elsewhere.

Going back to the military side now. Right now it is more critical to spend the money in getting WS-20 right, and CJ-1000 off the ground. These have more practical and immediate applications, so are probably even more important from a self reliance standpoint.

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CMFDan said:

Yes; the PLA doesn't need the XL. But maybe the civilian Gov't needs it. For Commerce, Scientific endeavors and Emergencies. It's essentially non-profit driven venture.

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superdog said:

The civilian need for super heavy/large cargo transport is very limited. If China felt the need to keep a few in their own fleet, ordering a few An-124 would be much more cost efficient than developing a new domestic model.

Maybe in the future they would be incentivised to develop a XL platform when another shuttle carrier is needed. But such a shuttle don't seem to be in China's aerospace plan so far.

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