China is trying to sell its Y-20 ‘chubby girl’ transport plane to foreign buyers
- The airlifter was put on the international market in November when it was shown to Nigeria’s defence chief, military magazine says
- The aircraft’s manufacturer, XAIC, has been operating assembly lines for mass production, according to state broadcaster
The strategic military transport aircraft was put on the international market in November, when the Y-20BE model was shown to visiting Nigerian Defence Minister Mohammed Badaru Abubakar in Beijing, military magazine Ordnance Industry Science Technology reported last week.
The heavy-lift transport plane – nicknamed “chubby girl” for its large fuselage – is comparable to the Soviet Ilyushin Il-76 and America’s Boeing C-17.
According to the report, it will be an opportunity for China “to establish deeper strategic relationships and cooperation with countries once they have the Y-20”.
Its manufacturer, state-owned Xian Aircraft Industrial Corporation (XAIC), has been operating assembly lines for mass production to increase efficiency and enlarge capacity, state broadcaster CCTV reported in November.
Instead of assembling the aircraft at a fixed workstation, its parts are moved along a “pulse line” as work stages are completed – similar to the way cars are produced. These assembly lines are used to build some of the world’s most advanced aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 and Boeing 787.
More than 90 per cent of the Y-20’s parts are made by a digitalised system, according to the CCTV report, which showed footage from the XAIC plant of robotic arms, remote-controlled manoeuvres, and laser-assisted high-precision assembly work.