Serbia airlift highlights importance of China’s military workhorse, the Y-20
- Six of the transport planes, reportedly carrying missiles, took part in a multi-day, long-range mission that showcased the PLA’s growing logistical capability
- Military analysts say the ability to move troops and equipment over long distances is key to the country’s military ambitions
Six of the transport planes, reportedly carrying FK-3 medium-range missile systems, flew to Serbia earlier this month in a three-day mission, according to the air tracking site Flightradar24.
Yue Gang, a retired People’s Liberation Army colonel and military commentator, said the trip exceeded 8,000km (5,000 miles) and was the largest-scale transport overseas mission the country had carried out so far.
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“It shows the ability of the Chinese air force to achieve large-scale, one-time mass delivery of weapons and equipment, which we call ‘strategic delivery capability’, the core capability of a country’s army,” he said.
“It proves that the Chinese air force has become a strategic air force with both offensive and defensive capability.”
The delivery happened at a sensitive time during the Ukraine war, Yue said, highlighting the importance of air transport rather than going by sea or by land. He added that the planes had crossed over nine countries – including two Nato members, Turkey and Bulgaria.
“Being able to get nine countries to open air their routes in a short period of time, the diplomatic difficulty can be imagined, and it also shows that China has great diplomatic influence,” Yue said.
Chinese military observers also said the fleet of Y-20s had grown over the past two years.
Six other Y-20s were dispatched to support Shanghai’s anti-epidemic work at the same time of the Serbia mission, while a recently launched aerial tanker, the Y-20U, helped refuel planes during a recent training exercise, according to an article published on news platform Guancha.cn.
The article said more than 70 of the planes were in operation and the total would soon exceed triple digits, putting China on course to have the second biggest fleet after the United States. It added that the Serbian airlift showed how they could help to “quickly arm a country”.
Yue said the planes would play an important role in the event of conflict in the South China Sea or Taiwan by providing logistical support or carrying paratroopers.
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“In the event of a military struggle in the South China Sea, we can urgently transport military personnel and equipment to several reefs in the South China Sea to strengthen our defence forces and provide continuous logistical support, so as to establish continuous air transport to ensure the continuous combat capability in that region,” Yue said.
In the event of combat in the Taiwan Strait, Yue said, the Y-20 had more roles, including dropping paratroopers in a surprise attack or carrying personnel and equipment in later stages of the conflict.
Fu Qianshao, a retired equipment specialist from the PLA Air Force in Beijing, said future variants of the plane would give it an even longer range and higher load capacity.
“We are going to ramp up production of the Y-20 at a fast pace,” Fu said.
Fu added that the Y-20 aerial tanker would be used to refuel warplanes in the air, expanding the air force’s operational range and combat radius.
“We can also stay at war for a longer time if there are foreign countries interfering with us,” Fu added.
