Chinese Y-20 Transport Aircraft may Enter Service This Year

Jane's is reporting the Y-20 may be further along than I thought. Rather than in testing and what have you, it appears the Y-20 is just about ready to be put into operational service. To be sure, a cargo plane is easier to move quickly with (or should be) than a 5th or 6th gen fighter, but I'm kinda amazed they have their Sino C-17 that far along.

It will have some pretty big implications for geopolitics and counter balancing the Chinese if they can move that much that easily using a C-17 equivalent.

www.janes.com...

a reply to: anzha

Although better than the antiquated Russian jets they use now it's still not quite a C-17. The C-17 still out carries the Y-20 by almost 13 tons. We'll have to see what their true geopolitical intentions are for that capability though. Somehow I can't see them in the humanitarian lift biz.

a reply to: Sammamishman

They've also got to get the improved engines done. Service entry is one of those fun definitions that doesn't quite cover what most people think.