What happened when Communist China gave steroids to a Russian transport

When it comes to aviation, original ideas are few and far between. Much of the progress that happens in the space can be considered more evolutionary than revolutionary. The F-15E Strike Eagle multirole fighter, for instance, was an evolution of the F-15 Eagle, an air-superiority fighter. This is often the case with transport planes, too.

For example, the general appearance of transport planes hasn't changed much over the decades. There's a huge, mostly hollow fuselage, high-mounted wings, and, at the very least, a rear ramp used to load vehicles or pallets of cargo. In developing cargo planes, the real issue isn't figure out how to transport something, it's figuring out how to transport that much.

A Y-20 in flight. This plane is based on the Russian Il-76 Candid transport.

(Photo by Alert5)

When the Chinese Communists were looking for a solution for massive-scale logistics, they decided to develop an aircraft based on the Il-76 "Candid" family of planes. They took this already-impressive aircraft and put it on a metaphorical steroid regimen, just like the ones former baseball sluggers Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez used to bulk up.

The Il-76 can haul 44 tons of cargo. Communist China's Y-20, their 'roided-out version of the Russian plane, hauls up to 66 tons. The Y-20 has a top speed of 572 miles per hour and a maximum range of 2,796 miles. The Il-76 can go for 2,734 miles at a top speed of 559 miles per hour.

China has acquired 30 planes in the Il-76 Candid, 22 of which are transports similar to this Indian Air Force Il-76.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo)

Now, that still doesn't quite match up with the United States' logistical powerhouse, the C-17, which can carry up to 85 tons of cargo up to 2,400 nautical miles. Additionally, the C-17 can be refueled in flight, so it can reach anywhere in the world. But compared to the baseline Il-76, the Y-20 is a substantial improvement, and gives Communist China a better plane — even if it's still waiting on the WS-20 engines.

Watch the video below to see this plane go through some of its paces.