China has conducted the maiden flight of the Xian Y-20 strategic transport from the Yanlian airbase.

Footage on Chinese state television shows the four-engined aircraft, bearing number 20001, taking off, landing, and taxiing. It does not appear to have retracted its landing gear during the flight, a common practice on maiden flights.

Official Chinese news agency Xinhua also posted images of the first flight.

The news comes just weeks after Beijing officially confirmed that it is developing the aircraft, following the emergence of images on Chinese defense sites during the last week of 2012.
The plane was developed in China to transport military combat and support vehicles and can carry up to 66 tons.

“We are developing large transport aircraft on our own to improve the capability of air transport,” China's Defense Ministry said.

“The advanced long-range carrier is being developed to serve the military modernization drive, as well as to meet demands in disaster relief work and humanitarian aid in emergency situations,” the Ministry added.

China has invested heavily in upgrading its military in recent years, rattling its neighbors in Asia. It insists its army spending is relatively low as a proportion of GDP and is not aimed at any other country.

 

Source: Flight Global; AFP