David Axe reports on the PLAAF’s ambitions for the new Xi’an Y-20U airborne tanker.
On November 28, 2021, 27 Chinese warplanes skirted the island of Taiwan, cutting across the country’s southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ) without crossing into its national airspace. The large sortie itself was not unusual. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and Navy (PLAN) routinely send fighters, bombers and patrol aircraft around Taiwan for training and as a show of force. Taiwanese air force fighters usually rise to meet and intercept them.
However, the mission last November was unique in at least one regard. It is believed that the initial Y-20U tanker regiment or brigade had become operational shortly before the mass sortie, making this the first time the PLAAF had sent one of its new Y-20Us along on an ADIZ probe mission.
Currently, there are only a handful of Y-20Us in service, but many more are in production at the Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation factory in central China. A development of the Xi'an Y-20 airlifter, the 110-ton Y-20U with its four turbofan engines and three hose-and drogue refueling hook-ups is critical to the PLAAF’s …
