Chinese Y-20 Plane to Spawn Early Warning, Electronic Warfare Variants

China's Y-20 transport aircraft is expected to spawn variants such as early warning aircraft, a command and control aircraft, a long-range electronic warfare aircraft, or even a drone carrier.
Besides, an expected engine upgrade will allow it to fly longer distance and carry more cargo than the current aircraft.
The domestically developed military cargo plane celebrated the 10th anniversary of its maiden flight on Thursday, Global Times reported quoting a press release from its manufacturer, AVIC.
Over the past 10 years, the Y-20 was tasked with missions which included flying over not only Asia but also Europe, Africa and Oceania.
Based on the success of the Y-20 project, China can now not only deliver the large transport aircraft in significant numbers, but also improve designs and upgrade technologies based on needs to develop the plane into a series of aircraft, AVIC said.
The Y-20 could also be increased in length, and this will give it a larger cargo space.
Thanks to the development of the new and more powerful engine which the Y-20 is expected to be equipped soon, the aircraft will receive a boost in terms of payload capacity and range.