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To redux, on January 11, 2007, China knocked
out one of its own ageing weather satellites,
orbiting more than 800 km above the earth’s surface,
scoring a direct hit by an interceptor missile,
destroying the satellite through kinetic energy
alone, sending shockwaves in the global strategic
community.
Four years later, on January 11, 2011, China
once again stunned the world by launching its
own home-grown 5th generation stealth jet fighter
J-20 on its maiden test flight, timing the launch
intentionally (or otherwise) with the visit of
the US Defence Secretary to Beijing. China continued
to spring surprises on the world in 2012 too,
first, by launching another stealth fighter J-31
on November 1and then followed it up with J-15
naval fighter carrying out live test flights from
the flight-deck of ‘Liaoning’ (its first aircraft
carrier).
But, it reserved the month of January 2013 to
once again shock the world by launching its heaviest
military transport aircraft Y-20 on its maiden
test flight – this time on January 26, even before
the might of the Indian military could begin to
be showcased down Rajpath to celebrate India’s
64th ‘Republic Day’.
Escorted by a J-15 fighter and numbered ‘20001’,
the Y-20 successfully completed its first flight,
remaining airborne for an hour.
The Y-20’s first flight suggests that China may
be well on its way to joining the US and Russia
as the third nation to independently develop and
fly a heavy military jet transport aircraft.
With a 15-meter height, 47-meter fuselage length
and a reported 66-tonne maximum load capacity,
the aircraft claims to be in the same class as
the US C-17 Globemaster III and Russia’s Il-76.
In fact, some Chinese military aviation experts
believe that the Y-20 outperforms the IL-76. Its
capacious cargo hold can “carry a vast majority
of combat and support vehicles of the Chinese
People’s Liberation Army (PLA)”, including the
PLA’s heaviest tank, the 58-tonne Type-99A2. It
can transport them even to underdeveloped “airstrips”
owing to its short take-off/ landing capabilities
and ability to operate in rough field conditions.
(See the accompanying comparison table).
 Chinese
claim the Y-20 to be a 100% indigenous design
clearly different from other heavy transport aircraft
such as the Russian IL-76, USA’s C-5 and C-17,
and Europe’s A400M turboprop in fuselage shape,
wheels and flap actuators. A close scrutiny of
the attached photograph makes the Y-20 look like
a hybrid cross between a C-17 and an IL-76. Chinese
are known for reverse engineering/cloning and
adapting ‘borrowed designs’ to their advantage
and, contrary to the claims of its designers,
Y-20 does not appear to be an ‘Exception’.
But that does not take away the glory of China
once again achieving a fantastic milestone in
its galloping aerospace industry. Y-20’s development
would represent another meaningful step toward
China being able to create more robust capability
to project its aerospace power.
Y-20 offers a big platform to be used not only
as a strategic airlifter but also in other force-multiplier
roles such as for air refuelling (FRA) or for
airborne early warning and control systems (AWACS).
Eventually, it could also be exported if it could
be built and sold for less than the cost of its
competitors such as the Russian IL-76.
There is however a catch though in terms of availability
of suitable engines to power the aircraft. The
prototype which flew on January 26 is powered
by four Solviev D-30KP-2 engines. China plans
to use its own under-development WS-20 engines
for production aircraft. But, jet engines have
so far proved to be the ‘Achilles heel’ for the
Chinese aerospace industry. Most of their aircraft
are powered by imported engines (mostly from Russia)
or their clones.
Although not to the same extent, China’s jet
propulsion programmes are inflicted with debilitating
problems somewhat similar to what India is experiencing
in developing the ‘Kaveri’ jet engine for its
indigenous LCA ‘Tejas’ fighter aircraft.
Possible delays in the development of the WS-20
engine could also result in slowing down the Y-20
programme which, otherwise, is slated to start
production for operational deployment of the aircraft
in China’s PLAAF (People’s Liberation army air
Force) by 2017-18.
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