Tu-204-120CE delivered to the CFTE at Xian-Yanglian

A few days ago there was much speculation about a Tu-204C spotted recently at the CFTE in Yanglian and at least by now it is (IMO) confirmed not fitted with a refueling boom as suggested at first. Anyway the question remains … is it only a testbed or what other possible purpose could this new bird have at the CFTE and how likely do You see the possibility of the Tu-204 entering PLAAF service at a larger scale !?!

First let us stick to the facts:

The aircraft in question is B-2871 China Flight Test Establishment Tupolev Tu-204-120CE – cn. 1450743664030 powered by RR RB211-535E4B
As such it was originally RA-64030 operated by the Tupolev Design Bureau (08-1999) … after it was operated by “Air China Cargo” (27-10-2008) and You still can see the former AC-logo on the tail … after that it had been in storage at Tianjin and was finally delivered to the CFTE at Yanliang in May 2011.

via

As such … I think the Tu-204 would have been (years ago) a good replacement for the Tu-154MD or as an aircraft for other special roles (radar testbed, EW, ELINT/SIGINT, …) ut now with the availability of more efficient aircraft like the Airbus A.320-series I question if it is reasonable to operate an aircraft which is built only in small numbers (still in production ??)

What do You think ?

Deino

Deino said:

.....
As such … I think the Tu-204 would have been (years ago) a good replacement for the Tu-154MD or as an aircraft for other special roles (radar testbed, EW, ELINT/SIGINT, …) ut now with the availability of more efficient aircraft like the Airbus A.320-series I question if it is reasonable to operate an aircraft which is built only in small numbers (still in production ??)

What do You think ?

Deino

Click to expand...

If the purpose is to have some new radar testbeds, EW, ELINT/SIGINT, etc, etc aircraft, I doubt EU/Airbus would allow sales to happen. I think it is directly embargoed. Civilian usage is one thing but totally different when it comes to military purposes. Remember the issues that popped up when a B-737 was converted to a command post (and that was also a second hand plane bought from a third party). AFAIK this not an issue with Russian companies.

o.k ... as such (and I think there are several Tu-204 available on the second-hand market) they could indeed form the basis of a new range of "special mission" aircraft for what the Y-8 is too small / too less capable and the Il-76 too large / too expensive (+ too few available) !?

Just a short look says that there are currently 17 aircraft of the Tu-204-family are stored / no longer operational ...



Deino

There is a reason why C919 exists.. I' don't think tu-204 has any of these military role.

But the C919 still has a long way to go ....

I think PLAAF can afford to wait. Y-20 is a good example. Plus with surprising speedy development of current PLAAF military project. All these might enter service sooner than expected.

Lion said:

There is a reason why C919 exists.. I' don't think tu-204 has any of these military role.

Click to expand...

C919 won't be available before 2018 at the earliest, according to current schedule.

Besides, think the Il-76 are prioritized for the air force's transport fleet.

Good luck getting end user license for LEAP-X on a PLAAF C919.

No doubt the High By-pass Ratio engine being developed for Y-20 can also be fitted to C-919.

At least the latest images ....

PS - Note ... the aircraft below the first one is the B757 F-22 testbed