Tbf unless the geopolitical landscape is completely upheavaled in the next 20 years, I doubt China actually needs that many aerial refueling or even heavy lift aircraft.
China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft
- Thread starter Totoro
- Start date
probably 300 to 400?
I remember in Zhuhai airshow, they were saying how China put order for 38 IL-76/78 back in the days that didn't get filled and that they actually need 10x that.
We are talking about both transport and tankers here. China has a huge need for tankers
Yes, absolutely.
In fact, I'd argue for 400-500x Y-20s - And that's just for transport, tankers and MRTT-type combi variants alone.
Speaking of tankers (including the MRTT-type) - They aren't merely about extending the combat ranges of fighters, bombers and special mission aircrafts (namely AEW&C, ELINT & SIGINT, EW & ECM, MP & ASW, etc) - They are also extremely crucial for sustaining the on-station presence and duration of combat and non-combat warplanes in warzones.
Frankly speaking, I highly doubt that any pilot would like to spend 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours or more just to travel to and from friendly bases just to be refueled, even if the mission zone isn't far away. That would be wasting precious fuel, airframe lifespan and time for nothing to gain for - Which is why tankers are fundamental to tackle these shortcomings.
For perspective - Operation Desert Storm, which takes place for one month plus, requires more than 200 tankers to be deployed to the region to support the campaign, even when many friendly airbases are right next door of Iraq in countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
Try emulate that Desert Storm, but across much of the entire WestPac with much larger air forces (both allied and opposing), alongside much more demanding, intense and encompassing combat operations and missions. I believe you can figure out just how many tankers are needed for such scenarios.
And we haven't yet talked about the Himalayan frontier, which both the transport and tanker variants are equally important.
Last edited:
Two Y-20As. Posted by the official Weibo account of AVIC.
Hey @Blitzo, for the ignorant newcomer, would you be so kind as to elaborate?
Looking at Huitong's posts, I can't see an Y-20B "entry". The implication would be that Huitong has a platform but a Google search didn't bring a satisfying answer. I probably don't have the right keywords.
(Instead of a PM, I choose to post it here as I might not be the only one to whom that reference was out of grasp.)
going to be interesting how many Y-20B they use for tankers and if all Y-20B will be built in a way to easily converted for tanker role. Looks like the answer is yes, but will need more photos
Yeah, I mean we've had rumours for a couple of years that all Y-20Bs are built as MRTTs as standard (i.e.: convertible between transport and tanker role through whether they have wing pods and cargo fuel cell installed or not).
The latest two pictures of the Y-20B with fuel pods and seemingly lacking a central fuselage drogue point like YY-20A points to it somewhat, but ideal confirmation would be something like seeing the same serial have refueling pods installed and removed over different time periods, or even if the PLA would give an official confirmation that Y-20B can do so.
I don't write threads on twitter often but really the significance of Y-20Bs all being built as MRTTs as standard really cannot be overstated. It may end up being as significant for the PLAAF as its AEW&C procurement in the 2000s or the introduction of a domestic ARH BVR capability.
And of course, all Y-20Bs being MRTTs as standard doesn't prevent them from also developing a dedicated YY-20B that is non-convertible or not easily convertible from the tanker to transport role either.
I'd be convinced if we see enough Y-20B photos configured as such.
I saw that Airbus is shifting MRTT to using A330-800 airframe. One thing I've been impressed with Airbus is just their ability to incrementally make small improvements to increase efficiency of its aircraft.
I wonder how much better Y-20A gotten in improved range/payload since it first joined service. Of course, on Y-20B down the road too. Having every range would help a lot of missions