Y-20B large transport aircraft are parked on the tarmac. Photo: Screenshot from the WeChat account of China Military Bugle

A documentary on the domestically developed Y-20 large transport aircraft family, aired by state media on Wednesday evening, revealed that the Y-20B can switch between transport and aerial refueling functions. A pilot said the aircraft could also take on roles including bomber, early warning aircraft and electronic warfare platform. 

With such modifications, the Y-20B platform offers significant advantages in mission flexibility and support capabilities, a military affairs expert told the Global Times.

According to the video released by state broadcaster CCTV News, since the Y-20 was equipped with the domestically developed high-bypass-ratio turbofan WS-20 engine - nicknamed "Chinese heart" - the Y-20B's mission profile has become more flexible. While it is primarily a transport aircraft, it can be quickly converted into an aerial refueling tanker by adding refueling pods and related kits. The line between transport and tanker aircraft is increasingly blurred, and this has significantly expanded the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force's tanker fleet.

Previously, a promotional video released by China Military Bugle, an official media account affiliated with the PLA news media center, showed that in 2025, the Y-20B was fitted with the WS-20, making it more powerful, more fuel-efficient, longer-ranged and part of a growing family of aircraft.

In the CCTV documentary, Pang Rongqi, a member of an Air Force aviation unit, said: "As a transport aircraft platform, the Y-20 is unique to our country and will play an increasingly important role in the future. The boundaries between transport aircraft and bombers, early warning aircraft, or even electronic warfare aircraft are becoming increasingly blurred. It is possible that all these missions could be accomplished with our transport aircraft platform."

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Thursday that the key message from this official release is that the Y-20B is a multi-role platform capable of rapid switching between transport and refueling functions. 

The fully domestically developed Y-20B itself is an integrated transport-tanker platform, embodying the concept of a multi-role tanker transport (MRTT). By equipping different functional pods, it can quickly change roles: With refueling pods, it becomes a tanker; with electronic jamming pods, it becomes an electronic warfare platform; with bombing modules, it could potentially perform bombing missions; and with early warning modules, it can serve as an airborne early warning platform, Song said.

It is not uncommon internationally to modify transport aircraft for special roles, including bomber-like missions. In March 2021, the US Air Force converted an MC-130J transport aircraft into a bomber by having it drop a JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) deployment box, according to a Forbes report in May 2021. 

Thanks to the Y-20's fully indigenous design, Song said, Chinese engineers have a comprehensive understanding of its aerodynamic configuration, airframe structure, flight control and avionics systems. This means that, as long as the technical conditions are met, modifications can be carried out with greater flexibility and tailored to operational needs. Whether it is a "quick-change" multi-role configuration through pod-based modularization, or deeper modifications, such as installing large radar domes for dedicated early warning aircraft or adding more fuel tanks for dedicated tankers, all can be flexibly achieved.

Song also said that the Y-20B can quickly switch between transport, tanker and electronic warfare roles by mounting different pods, achieving multi-role capability and greatly enhancing the PLA Air Force's mission flexibility and support efficiency.

Its platform potential is vast. It can be deeply modified into dedicated special mission aircraft such as early warning or electronic warfare platforms, filling critical capability gaps in the Air Force. At the same time, it can maintain its basic transport function and, when needed, rapidly transform into other combat platforms through modularization, becoming a true all-rounder.

The core value of this flexibility is that it allows rapid reconfiguration based on wartime mission requirements, while in peacetime it can perform routine transport missions, maximizing equipment effectiveness. The Y-20B's service not only represents a leap in China's strategic projection capability but also provides critical support for the PLA Air Force in building a systematic and diversified air capability, Song noted.

On July 6, 2016, the Y-20, China's domestically developed next-generation large military transport aircraft, officially entered service with PLA Air Force aviation units. A decade later, the Y-20 has evolved from a single transport platform into a family of models including the Y-20A, Y-20B and YU-20 aerial refueling tanker, with its operations extending to more than 40 countries and regions across four continents, according to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, the aircraft's manufacturer, on its WeChat account in June 2026.