[Military Next Dimension] Author: Lele

On April 15th, the "Bulgarian Military" website cited international aviation platforms and Egyptian sources, reporting that five Y-20 strategic transport aircraft had arrived in Egypt via the UAE. This long-distance deployment of Y-20 formations is very similar to the six Y-20s that flew to Serbia three years ago, delivering the FK-3 air defense system. Combined with the widespread rumors about Egypt purchasing J-10CE fighters, everyone is now watching closely to see what this large-scale operation has transported.

▲The "Bulgarian Military" website highly praised this Y-20 operation.

The first reaction for most people would be the J-10CE fighter. The interior space of the Y-20A can indeed accommodate a disassembled J-10, and even the "Bulgarian Military" website mentioned this possibility. However, the actual probability of such an operation is low. Transporting fighters with large transport aircraft is not uncommon. Russia has been using An-124s to deliver "Flanker" fighters, including the recent delivery of Su-35SE to Algeria by An-124. Even Pakistan once used Il-78 (with the removal of onboard fuel facilities) to deliver "JF-17" fighters to Nigeria. These operations are usually based on situations where the distance is far, the fighter's range is insufficient, and intermediate stops are troublesome (the difficulty of coordination between transport aircraft and fighters in another country is significant).

▲Transporting fighters with An-124 is quite effortless.

Last year, the J-10C proved that it could easily fly to Egypt after mid-air refueling, so there is no need to go through the "disassembly and loading into the Y-20 cabin" process. Moreover, the production capacity issue hasn't been resolved yet, so the possibility of this "Y-20 delivery of J-10CE" is very low. The second possibility proposed by the "Bulgarian Military" website is the Hongqi-9E or other air defense/anti-ship missiles. The article argues that compared to the J-10CE, missile systems like the Hongqi-9E have greater demand for airlift and are more technically reasonable. However, Egypt hasn't purchased missile-type weapons from China for many years. If they really target high-end models like the Hongqi-9E this time, then the J-10CE will also be secured later.

▲The Hongqi-9 is truly excellent.

The third possibility, again proposed by the "Bulgarian Military" website, is drones. Egypt previously purchased a considerable number of Wing Loong-1Ds from Aviation Industry Corporation of China. These integrated reconnaissance-strike drones are most suitable for airlift delivery. The only issue is that even if Egypt itself didn't provide the transport capability (several Gulf states receive drones by deploying C-17As domestically), there doesn't seem to be a need for such a grand spectacle involving five Y-20s unless they are directly transporting an assembly line.

▲Transporting drones does not require excessive transport capacity.

While outsiders were pondering, it was reported that there was a sixth aircraft in the fleet, and it was an KJ-500. If this can be confirmed, then this Y-20 fleet might be heading to Egypt for joint exercises. At present, Egypt's likelihood of purchasing KJ-500 is very low. In previous instances where KJ-500 went abroad, it was always to participate in joint military exercises with other countries. For example, the recent air force exercises with Thai Air Force have involved KJ-500. Last year, an KJ-500 accompanied by a Y-20 even flew near Alaska with a H-6K bomber, so going to Egypt again is reasonable.

▲The KJ-500 is not something that can be deployed casually.

The "Bulgarian Military" website is also somewhat undecided about the purpose of these five Y-20s arriving in Egypt. However, at the end of the article, it mentioned an interesting viewpoint — regardless of what these five Y-20s are doing in Egypt, it signifies "the demonstration of Y-20's ability to quickly deploy to Africa. Given the ongoing increase in the scale of Y-20, this is far more important than the cargo inside the cabin." This statement is indeed very reasonable. As a domestically produced large strategic platform that is slightly inferior to the C-17A and is now being equipped with the WS-20 engine, focusing solely on its transportation role would be a pity.

▲The Y-20A repeated its strategic deployment capabilities from three years ago.

To put it simply, domestically, the Y-20 has already developed two key equipment: Y-20U and "KJ-2000," which are of great significance to the navy and air force. This time, five Y-20s flying to Egypt, regardless of what they transported, pose a challenge to the traditional coverage area of the C-17 and signify the appearance of a non-European-American strategic transport aircraft in regions previously controlled by the West.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7493763326174954010/

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