China’s Y-20 Airlifter Makes Low-key Debut at Zhuhai

Making its debut at this year’s Airshow China in Zhuhai was the Xi’an Aircraft Works (XAC) Y-20 military cargo lifter. This aircraft first flew in early 2013, with photos appearing on PRC aviation enthusiast websites. They showed the aircraft still in factory primer and with the prototype number “20001” painted on its fuselage.

These unauthorized (and in accordance with Chinese law, essentially illegal) photos of the aircraft were the only images that had been seen of the aircraft until the Y-20 showed up at Zhuhai, painted in PLAAF colours and now with the number “783” on the fuselage.

The appearance of the aircraft at Zhuhai was curious in that it is still in flight test and is primarily designed to be used by the PLAAF, rather than exported. There was a “substantial risk” to flying the Y-20 at the show, said a western defence official at the Zhuhai show. “But the Chinese feel they had to bring it, to demonstrate parity with the U.S., because there is a U.S. Air Force delegation here that arrived in a [Boeing] C-17.”

The Y-20 is—like many PRC programsnot purely Chinese. The Antonov design bureau in Ukraine has discussed for several years its involvement in the development of a large cargo carrier for the PLAAF that it refers to as the “Y-X”. There are also indications, first revealed by AIN in early 2008, that China acquired proprietary knowledge of the C-17 design. A Chinese-born engineer who worked for Boeing was convicted of economic espionage in 2010, although specific charges relating to the C-17 were dropped during the trial.

Ukraine’s involvement in the Y-20 has been not unlike another “Chinese” aircraft,the ARJ21 airliner, in that Antonov designed the wings for the aircraft, which is the most critical aspect of the program. The aircraft also draws on Antonov’s experience with large aircraft structures and the use of titanium.

The aircraft in flight test uses four Perm/Soloviev D-30 engines similar to those that power the Ilyushun Il-76. The aircraft is eventually supposed to be built with four Chinese-made WS-20 engines, which are derivatives of the WS-10A that powers the J-11B fighters that are illegal copies of the Su-27.

There are reportedly three prototypes of the Y-20 now built. When the program goes forward it will supposedly be produced in a shorter production cycle than any other previous Chinese aircraft, due to the use of state-of-the-art production methods. Eventually there should be a production of a decade or longer.