The YU-20 is the in-flight refueling variant developed from the Y-20 strategic airlifter, and was first shown officially on video while conducting maneuvers alongside PLAAF fighter jets.
According to the Global Times news site, China’s next-generation tanker, the YU-20, has begun to be incorporated into combat readiness training, as the aircraft is expected to bolster the long-range operational capabilities of other warplanes, a spokesman for China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) announced.
Colonel Shen Jinke was in charge of the official presentation of the YU-20 during a press conference with local media.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwbg2LalUFk&t=2s
The YU-20 is a tanker variant of the Y-20 transport aircraft developed in China; analogous to how Russia developed the Il-78 Midas from the Il-76 Candid transport aircraft (NATO designation).
In the video, you can see how the YU-20 performs aerial refueling exercises over the sea with the J-16 fighter aircraft, aiming for a realistic level of tactical training, given its imminent deployment to support patrol missions over the Taiwan Strait.
As China’s new-generation tanker aircraft, the YU-20 can effectively enhance the air force’s long-range operational activities while maintaining the same functionality as the Y-20 transport aircraft in airlift missions, Col. Shen said.
Although this is the first official presentation of the YU-20 by the PLAAF, the existence of the tanker aircraft has been widely known to the general public due to its previous missions around the island of Taiwan.
On Nov. 28, 2021, a total of 27 Chinese transport and cargo aircraft, including a YU-20 tanker, entered the air defense identification zone in southwestern Taiwan Island, the island’s defense authorities said in a press release at the time.
That was the first time a YU-20 aerial refueling aircraft was spotted in an overflight near the island of Taiwan, island media reported. Reports said the YU-20 aerial refueling aircraft apparently conducted aerial refueling procedures with two J-16s.
The YU-20 brings PLAAF a much-needed capability
By receiving aerial refueling, warplanes can have a longer range and/or operating time, making the tanker aircraft an essential means of projecting power.
This capability is, for now, limited in the PLAAF, as its tanker fleet consists of only two dozen H-6U (H-6 Badger medium bombers converted to tankers) and a trio of ex-Ukrainian Il-78 Midas, which apparently would already only be performing cargo transport missions.
China #OSINT Aerial Refuelers >> Here's a clip of #PLAAF H-6U Tanker fueling Shenyang J-8F fighters via RDC-1 pods over #Tibet, H-6U is most abundant Aerial Refuelers in #PLAAF#important note : H-6U system is 'INCOMPATIBLE' with Su-30MKK,J-11,J-15,J-16 operating at TAR #Thread pic.twitter.com/0fkE1suheE
— 𝐊𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐁𝐈𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐒 (@Kunal_Biswas707) November 26, 2020
The H-6Us are very limited tankers, being able to carry a maximum of 18.5t of fuel to refuel other aircraft (compared to the 90t that a KC-135 can carry), by integrating two large fuel tanks in the former bomb bay.
As the Chinese Air Force plans to maintain and increase its presence around the island of Taiwan and, indeed, throughout the entire first island chain, it is imperative that it increase and modernize its in-flight refueling capability.
The addition of the YU-20 is critical to China’s foreign policy and strategic projection plans. The PLAAF’s in-flight refueling capability is going to be increased and modernized very significantly with this aircraft.
See also: To avoid sanctions, China and Russia relaunch the CR929 without Western components
And further down the road, China is likely to develop a tanker version of its future CR929 airliner, on which it is working with Russia, to compete with Airbus and Boeing products in the long-haul market.
