China's transport, tanker & heavy lift aircraft

escobar said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1464883911905857544

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And finally we get a clear image of the revised sponsons.

... and allegedly this one is already out today around Taiwan

Hard to see if the rear ramp still exist or it's replaced by a fixed one to save weight.

A Huge leap for China's Air Force Strategic Capability indeed

Daniel707 said:

A Huge leap for China's Air Force Strategic Capability indeed

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1464982216266555395

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@Daniel707 bro it had a STOL capability with a weaker engine?

And I just don't quite understand the point of the fuselage change, such as the rear part of the main landing gear. If if is some kind of CFD optimization, would it be applied to all Y-20 variants in the future? It is not, why?

Tiberium said:

And I just don't quite understand the point of the fuselage change, such as the rear part of the main landing gear. If if is some kind of CFD optimization, would it be applied to all Y-20 variants in the future? It is not, why?

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Maybe it's in the way of cargo bay for transporter version but for a refueler space arrangement is more flexible.

Tiberium said:

And I just don't quite understand the point of the fuselage change, such as the rear part of the main landing gear. If if is some kind of CFD optimization, would it be applied to all Y-20 variants in the future? It is not, why?

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IMO, the sponson modification is to improve airflow and air turbulence to enable more stable refueling process, in particular the air turbalence effect on the aircrafts receiving fuel behind Y20U. Just my 2 cent, more technically knowldgeable members may have better answer.

Jingle Bells said:

160,000 winter uniform for the plateau in 3 Y-20s. If each uniform weights 1 kg. that is 160 ton in total.

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I didn't realise there are 160K PLA soldiers in Tibet ..... quite a lot