Are these the first pictures of China’s new military transport plane taking to the skies?
Photos and videos appear to show the maiden flight of the aircraft that is likely to become the PLA’s main workhorse in future
Photographs and videos circulating online on Tuesday showed a four-engine turboprop aircraft. The most detailed images showed it had six-blade propellers, a T-tail, a blended winglet configuration and possibly an aerial refuelling probe positioned above the cockpit – a structure found on the Airbus A400M.
A model of the new medium-lift transport, developed by Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation, first went on display at the 2014 Zhuhai air show with the provisional designation of Y-30.
However, some of the latest pictures show a fuselage number reading 15001, which might be a sign that the plane will end up being designated as the Y-15 instead. Other prototype warplanes, such as the J-20 and J-35, had the numbers 2001 and 350003 respectively.
Previous reports about the project said the aircraft used synthetic materials, making it far lighter than existing planes.
According to the developer, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the aircraft has a maximum payload capacity of over 20 tonnes and can carry more than 110 personnel. It has a cruise speed of more than 600km/h (370mph), a range of over 3,000km (1,864 miles) with a full payload and a maximum flight time of more than 12 hours.