Xi'an Y-20 'Kunpeng' | Status Spring 2025 Author Andreas Rupprecht Size A4, 300dpi resolution pdf Volume 27 pages with 32 colour photos, three tables and one physical map. ISBN 978-1-95039-418-0 Retail price 999.00 EUR Order details Click here Release date February 2024, updated March 2025

• Executive summary

With the prototype performing its maiden flight in January 2013 and introduction into active PLAAF service by mid-2016, the XAC Y-20 now equips two transport regiments, while the YY-20A tanker version currently forms a third
regiment.

Serial production began in late 2015 and as of July 2024, even conservative estimates assume that between 80 and 90 Y-20s, of both transport and tanker variants, have been delivered and are operational.

The Y-20 has become the standard strategic airlift asset of the PLAAF and has dramatically changed the structure and capabilities of the service’s transport fleet, which for long time relied on around 30 imported Il-76MD/TD transports
and only three IL-78 tankers (Reporting names Candid and Midas, respectively). Within less than a decade, the PLAAF's strategic transport fleet has practically doubled, resulting in an enormous increase in terms of both the quantity and quality of its transport capabilities. This will have a clear impact on any future mission planning in the Far East. In parallel with series production, testing of more advanced variants is also taking place.


Contents
• The programme
• Specialised variants
• Variants and delivered airframes
• PLAAF Y-20 units
• Conclusions
• Abbreviations
• Bibliography