China's Air Force Invests Big On Large Transport Planes

Y-20 at Airshow China 2018 in Zhuhai city in China's Guangdong province, November 7, 2018. AP Photo/Kin Cheung 

 Insider: China's air force has big plans for its biggest planes 

* China's rapidly growing military has impressed and worried its rivals. 

* China's strategic airlift fleet is the fastest-growing in the world. 

* That fleet's expansion reflects Beijing's broader military ambitions. 

China's rapidly growing military has added dizzying numbers of ships and aircraft, but the fastest-growing platform may be its airlifters, the heavy-duty planes designed to haul troops and supplies. 

China now operates 11% of the strategic airlifters in service but is set to reach 18% by the end of the 2020s, making it the fastest-growing fleet in the world, according to Aviation Week. 

Like other Chinese military hardware, the airlift fleet is based on Soviet-era designs. 

Since the 1990s, Beijing has used a small number of Il-76s and variants for transport and other missions.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: Large airlift fleets is what makes a nation a super-power, and China's air-force is definitely gearing up to have that capability.

from War News Updates https://ift.tt/2UxGJMl