Is it me or doesn't 6 look PSed? Also if it is correct, would that mean at least minimum 25 in service?
China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft
- Thread starter Totoro
- Start date
What downsides are there to not having a centreline refueling position (for Y-20B)? Is it just that it lacks a hard refueling boom? But I don't recall any current aircraft in inventory which use one (rather than probe/drogue)?
why? If no. 70 is the 20th, then is no. 65 the 15th not the 25th tanker.
What do you mean? YY-20 has centreline refueling position.
Centreline refueling position has nothing to do with hard or soft refueling probes.
I said Y-20B..
If you are comparing YY-20A's refuelling configuration with Y-20B, the only difference is that YY-20A's centreline refuelling position (which is a drogue) can enable refuelling of larger aircraft like H-6N and KJ-500A more effectively.
I'm not sure if a H-6N and KJ-500A can be refuelled from the wing drogue pods that YY-20A and Y-20B have.
YY-20A doesn't have a refuelling boom to begin with so it's immaterial to Y-20B.
That's the only major "difference" between YY-20A and Y-20B in terms of refuelling compatibility with receiving aircraft.
However I think the Y-20B has most of the refuelling needs that the PLA has and more importantly is much larger in number, and it also doesn't mean that the YY-20As will be dispensed of (nor does it rule out a YY-20B equivalent). A core fleet of YY-20A (and maybe YY-20B) tankers supplemented by the entire Y-20B fleet which can be converted to operate as tankers as need be, seems reasonable to me.
Why not? Transfer rate too low or something else?
And if it's just a matter of transfer rate why wouldn't a longer refueling time work?
Last edited:
Did I miss something because I don't regularly follow this thread? Are there photos showing Y-20B with refuling configuration?
Last edited:
You were asking for "downsides" between YY-20A and Y-20B.
I'm saying that we do not know if wingpod drogues can refuel larger aircraft like KJ-500A or H-6N, I'm not saying that they definitely cannot.
It's possible that wingpod drogues can refuel larger aircraft, but until we see it happen we cannot assume it as a given, because logically speaking yes transfer rate (and thus time needed to continue the refuelling position itself), aerodynamics, and potentially even refuelling probe and drogue geometry incompatibility are all factors which are unknown and may potentially make it either undesirable or not possible.
Yes.
Photos below:
Also some noisy rumours for a while that Y-20Bs are "MRTTs" aka they can be converted from transport role to tanker role, meaning all Y-20Bs in theory can operate as tankers with a conversion (not dissimilar to say A400M).