The pace of the Y‑20 program—its rapid development cycle and the steady stream of new aircraft entering service—makes it clear that the PLA places far greater priority on this four‑engine “fat bird” than on the Y‑9, despite the Y‑20’s higher cost and heavier maintenance burden. The contrast is hard to miss: China’s strategic jet engined‑transport fleet is expanding quickly, while the tactical turboprop fleet grows at a far more measured rate. The activity around the PLAAF’s 13th and 4th Transport Aviation Divisions, both home to Y‑20 units, reinforces this trend.
This emphasis fits neatly with the PLAAF’s evolving strategic air‑transport doctrine. We’ve seen it demonstrated in MOOTW deployments and in the rapid reinforcement of remote regions such as Tibet. From my perspective, China’s extensive high‑speed rail and modern highway networks reduce the urgency of maintaining a large tactical airlift force. That may help explain why meaningful Y‑9 airdrop activity is rarely observed outside of occasional publicity clips, while Y‑20s are constantly on the move across China and even making appearances in friendly countries. Several posts here at this blog have already documented some of those Y‑20 trips.
Which brings us to the Y‑15 program. I’d argue that the Y‑9’s real success has been less about its performance as a traditional tactical transport and more about its evolution into a versatile platform for specialized “high‑noon” missions across multiple services. The Y‑15 appears to be following that same pattern for the PLAAF’s turboprop transport line. Its value may not lie in raw transport endurance but in its potential as a next‑generation specialized platform. something hinted at by the adding of a mid‑air refueling probe, a capability the older Y‑9 lacks.
Friday, October 11, 2024
PLAAF Unit Of The Day: 37th Regiment, 13th Transport Aviation Division, Central Theater Command Air Force HQ
Home to 28 Y-20 Heavy Transport of the PLAAF as of Oct 11th.
https://china-defense.blogspot.com/2020/04/plaafs-airlft-to-wuhan.html
Saturday, April 04, 2020
PLAAF's airlift to Wuhan
The 2,600 military medical personnel are drawn from the PLA Army, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, Strategic Support Force, Joint Logistic Support Force and Armed Police Force. According to the above two hospitals’ treatment capacity and construction progress, the military medical personnel will be deployed in batches. The first group of 1,400 personnel has arrived in Wuhan on February 13 and scheduled to carry out medical treatment as soon as possible.
Most of them were airlifted via a fleet of 11 transports "Y-20 (4th Division 12th Regiment), IL-76 (13th Division) and Y-9 (4th Division 10th Regiment) (link)"
At the same time, PLA's Joint Logistic Support Force also procured 10,000 protective suits for military medical personnel each day, and over two million face masks have been imported from around the world. (link)
3xY-20, 5xIL-76 and 3xY-9
Friday, August 05, 2016
Photos of the day: 15th Airborne corps airdrops in Tibet with Y-9
Monday, August 01, 2016
Now checking in with the Y-9 transport aircraft program
A Y-9 large transport aircraft airdrops three ZBD-03 airborne armored infantry fighting vehicles during airborne combat training. An airborne regiment with the PLA Air Force conducted airborne combat training at the Gobi Desert in the northwest China in late July, 2016, including such subjects as heavy equipment airdrop, logistical support, parachute skills, fire strike and so forth. (81.cn/ Chen Lichun)
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Photos of the day: Clear images of Y-9 Transporter in "China Airforce" color
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Y-9 project, rebooted.
http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2010/09/y-9-project-rebooted.html
According to China Aviation News (here) the long delayed first Y-9 prototype is under construction. It is scheduled to perform its maiden flight by 2011.
http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2009/07/y-9-tactical-transport-aircraft-program.htmlTuesday, July 14, 2009
Y-9 Tactical Transport Aircraft program back on track?
According to Shanfei’s press release posted on its website (http://www.shanfei.com/xwzx/new/20090713,1.html) the Y-9 dual-purpose Tactical Transport Aircraft project has been restarted. Shanfei upper management acknowledged elements that caused the delay of this important project. They included: unbalanced department workload, lack of research capability, project planning, funding, in addition to a shortage of parts, limited parts assembly lines and final assembly, and limited test flight capabilities. There were also technology limitations, frequent accidents due to low safety standards, poor quality control, undefined procedures and poor production work flows that led to a serious delay of the project.
Here are the words in Shanfei’s press release and judging from the language used AVIC, Shanfei’s parent company, must be getting hard on them.
大 运研制按计划要求正常推进。但 由于任务繁重、研发能力和资源不足，对现场生产组织提出挑战，多项工作进度不同程度滞后；零件生产、部装、总装、试飞等能力未填平补齐，受现场技术质量问 题处理影响，生产不畅，任务不均衡，严重影响产品交付效率；因违反程序、操作规程等原因，多次发生质量、安全事故，安全生产形势严峻
The Y-9 Tactical Transport Aircraft, or YunShuji-9 project, was reported back in 2001 as an enlarged version of the PLA’s workhorse Y-8 transport: a Chinese version of the C-130 Hercules with an airdrop payload capability of 20,000kg or 100 paratroopers. The older Y-8 had a max airdrop payload of 13,200kg. The Y-9 has a built-in RoRo ramp for quick offloads/airdrops. It will also have a max range of 3000km, allowing it to reach most of China from Wuhan—the central city in China and also home to the 15th airborne army. Strategically, this allows the Chinese military a quick reaction to any trouble spot and is one of the reasons why the Y-9 project is so important. Also, it lessens the reliance on Russia for transport aircraft, even though it is not in the same class as the Russian Il-76’s payload of 50,000 to 88,000kg. But the Y-9 is a homegrown and inexpensive solution that is capable of dropping armor such as ZBD03/ZLC2000 Airborne Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The PLA’s order for 36 Il-76s placed in 2005 is still under negotiation.
Now that the project is seriously behind schedule, it will not be surprising to see management changes take place at Shanfei.
Official photo from Shanfei
Y-9 display model and artist impression:
