The Paper, senior reporter Xie Ruiqiang, and intern Ren Huanyu
The first heavy airdrop on the plateau, the first flight out of the country, the first participation in a non-military mission...The Yun-20 transport aircraft will gradually enter the best situation in 2020.
According to CCTV military news on August 24, in the actual combat training of an ace unit of the People’s Liberation Army, Yun-20 recently completed the highland heavy airdrop for the first time. This move means that our airborne troops have strong mobility and protection in the plateau area. The firepower has also been greatly improved, and a large-scale actual reloading assault can be carried out at any time.
"It is very difficult to reload the airdrop on the plateau"
Judging from the picture released by CCTV military, the Y-20 continuously airdropped multiple pieces of heavy equipment. After the equipment landed, hundreds of paratroopers left the aircraft in a "three-door four-way" off-aircraft mode, landing accurately and smoothly, and quickly realizing the combination of man and outfit. The airdropped multiple 107mm multiple rocket launchers. The gun has a maximum range of about 8 kilometers and has the characteristics of light weight and strong firepower. It is one of the important support weapons for airborne troops and other rapid reaction forces.
The airdrop of weapons and equipment is the cornerstone for the airborne troops to maintain their combat effectiveness, and the airdrop of heavy equipment is an important criterion for testing airborne combat capabilities. Reload airdrops are carried out at high altitudes on the plateau. The higher the altitude, the greater the impact of airflow and the more difficult it is to accurately airdrop.
Y-20 is airdropped from the plateau for the first time.
According to the Ministry of National Defense website, in June 2014, the People's Liberation Army successfully implemented a reloading airdrop at an altitude of 6000 meters in a plateau area for the first time, using Yun-8 and Il-76 transport aircraft, and airdropping heavy equipment such as paratrooper combat vehicles. As a large transport aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 200 tons, Yun-20 can not only air-drop multiple rocket launchers, but also multiple 03 crawler paratrooper combat vehicles and certain wheeled armored vehicles.
In May of this year, a certain wheeled armored fighting vehicle was delivered to a combined brigade of the airborne force. The armor protection of the new 4×4 wheeled airborne armored combat vehicle is better and more comprehensive than that of the previous wheeled vehicles. Its driving window is equipped with armored protective panels, and is equipped with 12.7 mm machine guns and anti-tank missiles.
Air Force expert Fu Qianshao told The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) that the reloading of the airdrop has very high requirements for the performance of the Yun-20 itself and the coordination of military equipment. "The accurate delivery of materials and equipment from hundreds of meters or more in the air to the destination. In this process, the aircraft and people must be fully equipped. This requires very high technology. Airdrop is a sophisticated technical system. The technology involved is very intensive, including loading and unloading systems on transport aircraft, parachute systems, buffer systems, etc., as well as the airdrop equipment itself."
For reloading airdrops, "heavy" is a prominent problem at the technical level. Although the current aircraft are all fly-by-wire operating systems, the requirements for pilots are still very high because the equipment for reloading airdrops is too heavy. Fu Qianshao pointed out: "The movement of heavy equipment in the cargo hold and the pulling force of the towing parachute have a great influence on the flight, especially when the airdropped equipment just leaves the cargo hold, the'load reduction effect' will be very prominent, and there are also factors such as airflow disturbances. , So the overall difficulty is still very large."
The Yun-20 is a large transport aircraft independently developed by China, officially codenamed "Kunpeng". The Yun-20 project was established in 2007, and the first flight was successful on January 26, 2013. In July 2016, the air force was officially installed. In recent years, Yun-20 has appeared on important occasions such as the Zhuhai Air Show and military parade. Because of its huge size, Chinese netizens gave Yun-20 a vivid nickname-"Pan Niu".
Y-20 delivered anti-epidemic supplies to Wuhan in February this year. This is the first time Y-20 has participated in a non-war military operation. Weibo @军报报报图
Multiple "Firsts" of "Fat Girl" in 2020
Entering 2020, the performance of the Yun-20 transport aircraft is very eye-catching. It not only successfully completed many military missions, but also successfully completed many non-military missions. One by one, for the first time, it shows that the "fat girl" is getting better.
On February 13, the Chinese Air Force dispatched six Y-20 large transport aircraft to airlift medical supplies to Wuhan. This was the first time Y-20 participated in a non-war military operation.
On April 24, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army used Yun-20 to provide emergency assistance to Pakistan, Laos, and Myanmar with nucleic acid testing kits, protective clothing and other epidemic prevention and control materials, and dispatched three military anti-epidemic expert teams to the three countries to carry out epidemic prevention work. This is the first time Yun-20 has gone abroad to perform its mission.
On June 13, the "Star Aircraft" Yun-20 transport aircraft landed in the Russian capital Moscow for the first time to carry out the mission of transporting the honor guards of the three services of the People's Liberation Army to Russia for the Victory Day parade on Red Square in Moscow. "The straight-line distance from Beijing to Moscow is about 6,000 kilometers. This is the longest distance that Yun-20 can fly abroad for missions. It has tested the aircraft's long-distance flight capability." Military expert Han Dong said.
From the TV screen, the number of the Y-20 plane to Russia is 20041, which is the "star plane" of the anti-epidemic. When the Yun-20 first flew to Wuhan on February 13, 20041 was one of them.
"Y-20 is not only a large transport aircraft, but also a long-range transport aircraft, with a maximum range of at least 7000 kilometers. The aircraft has enough capacity to cross-area maneuver without landing in the middle." Han Dong told The Paper.
In the second half of the year, "Fat Girl" is still non-stop. On August 10, a CCTV military channel reported that more than 130 officers and soldiers from a certain unit of the PLA Northern Theater who participated in the "International Military Competition-2020" on August 9 took off from Shenyang Taoxian Airport on Air Force Yun-20 and transferred to Urumqi. Russia. This delivery is the first time that Yun-20 has been used in the northern theater and relies on civilian airports for cross-border delivery.
In the previous tense border situation, this unit used various methods such as civil aviation transportation, logistics transshipment, and railway transportation to complete a thousand-mile maneuver within a few hours to accurately drop personnel, materials, and weapons into a certain plateau area. And after arriving at the assembly area, the fire strike drill was launched as soon as possible.
Faced with so many "firsts", Fu Qianshao believes that after many actual combat exercises, Y-20 has experience in handling complex situations, and Y-20 will occupy a more important position in my country's air force transportation in the future. "Y-20 has greater'ambitions.' After the Yun-20, it will not only undertake the task of strategic transportation, but also develop new types of special aircraft such as large aerial refueling aircraft, airborne early warning aircraft, and air command aircraft. This is essential for improving the air force’s equipment The system has a more important role." Fu Qianshao told The Paper.