4x Y-20s + what looks like 4x H-6s and 6x fighter sized a/c (you may be excited if you go see which types) have seemingly been hanging out at 唐山三女河 (old J-7 ramp) since late May, presumably for the parade. Notable not only for any Tangshanites who may have a flight out of or into there soon, but also for the fact that the field similarly hosted what I assume were parade a/c back in June 2015 (infinity H-6s) and other deployments in September 2016 (crapton of Flankers) and late 2019 (H-6s). dated 12JUN from the area shows a Y-20 which doesn't appear to have any markings indicating it to be a tanker variant, and there is (note: user location does say Heilongjiang, buut who knows, a friend sent me that and I blame him if it is ultimately unrelated) which shows some formation flying with a Y-20 and 2x H-6s, so I feel safe concluding that this continues to be an airbase used to host rotational deployments for airshows (and presumably operational use when needed), and that some or all of the Y-20/H-6 trios seen rehearsing are deploying out of this base.
This is also a neat opportunity to see China embrace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into its airfield operations. Unlike the 2015 and 2017 deployments which were seemingly ~unit-sized deployments of single types amidst the field's active operational use, these are all (approooooximately) Dadui-sized (Equitable!) groups of rather dissimilar aircraft (Diverse!) operating without visible pre-deployment preparation or augmentation of the host's Airfield Station force simultaneously (Inclusive!), and implies that either the field's support personnel are just goated and can work on anything with two wings and thrust despite the base seemingly no longer supporting an active Brigade/Regiment, or that the support personnel from deployed units/higher echelon support entities are able to deploy to """unfamiliar fields""" (their own parlance) without compromising operations at originator fields. Further, this being the case even for Bomber/Transport aircraft organized under the traditional Division/Regiment model (presuming the Y-20s and H-6s are not from Brigade-organized units... yes this post is bait to get someone to go check SNs) is somewhat notable given their less "modular" nature and demand for higher echelon support in most circumstances.
Separate attached image is just a spacing/size comparison for various a/c in the current publicly available low res and some scale matched higher res shots of the same ramp with known a/c types.
This is also a neat opportunity to see China embrace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into its airfield operations. Unlike the 2015 and 2017 deployments which were seemingly ~unit-sized deployments of single types amidst the field's active operational use, these are all (approooooximately) Dadui-sized (Equitable!) groups of rather dissimilar aircraft (Diverse!) operating without visible pre-deployment preparation or augmentation of the host's Airfield Station force simultaneously (Inclusive!), and implies that either the field's support personnel are just goated and can work on anything with two wings and thrust despite the base seemingly no longer supporting an active Brigade/Regiment, or that the support personnel from deployed units/higher echelon support entities are able to deploy to """unfamiliar fields""" (their own parlance) without compromising operations at originator fields. Further, this being the case even for Bomber/Transport aircraft organized under the traditional Division/Regiment model (presuming the Y-20s and H-6s are not from Brigade-organized units... yes this post is bait to get someone to go check SNs) is somewhat notable given their less "modular" nature and demand for higher echelon support in most circumstances.
Separate attached image is just a spacing/size comparison for various a/c in the current publicly available low res and some scale matched higher res shots of the same ramp with known a/c types.
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