Half a Dozen of Chinese Y-20 Cargo Planes (PLAAF) Appear in European Skies to Serbia

 

Half a Dozen of Chinese Y-20 Cargo Planes (PLAAF) Appear in European Skies to Serbia

International Military - The flight tracker received an interesting surprise late Friday when six Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) kargo Y-20‎‎ cargo planes appeared heading west in Turkish airspace, bound for Serbia.

The PLAAF is using the Y-20 as a sort of demonstration of its own airlift capabilities in light of NATO's ongoing efforts to transport supplies and materials for the Ukraine war effort. This was carried out as a scheduled delivery of weapons using MLAT (Multilateration), which was carried out by Poland to Ukraine some time ago using MLAT.

MLAT is a solid choice for planes from countries that don't necessarily mind, if you can't see their entire route. Reports later emerged that the y-20 planes were delivering the HQ-22 surface-to-air missile system to the Serbian military.

Reported from The War Zone on April 11, 2022, the appearance of the Y-20 is quite surprising because they fly en masse compared to a series of single plane flights. Serbia has "reportedly" chosen the HQ-22 over its Russian counterpart, the S-300, in a surprise move. However, the cost of the system can be a major factor.

The presence of the Y-20 in Europe in any number is still a fairly recent development. Loosely similar in basic design and role to the US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, future production Y-20 aircraft will use the WS turbofan engine. The locally produced -20‎‎ replaces the Russian Oloviev D-30 jet engine.

Going to a higher bypass turbofan this should also improve the overall performance of the Y-20. The famous airframe and aerial refueling variant appeared in Malaysian airspace‎‎ in the South China Sea and Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in 2021.

The Y-20U tanker aircraft reportedly supported more than two dozen PLAAF aircraft on the November 28 flight via Taiwan's ADIZ.

Apart from the Y-20's expanded presence in Europe, the fact that a high-end Chinese air defense system will be operational in Europe is another issue that is likely to disappoint neighboring Serbia.