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Y-8
Role	Transport
Manufacturer	Shaanxi Aircraft Company
First flight	December 1974
Status	In service
Primary user	PLA Air Force
Produced	1981-present
Number built	75+
Developed from	Antonov An-12
Variants	Shaanxi Y-9

The Shaanxi Y-8 or Yunshuji-8 (运-8) aircraft is a medium size medium range transport aircraft produced by Shaanxi Aircraft Company in China, based on the Soviet Antonov An-12. It has become one of China's most popular military and civilian transport/cargo aircraft, with many variants produced and exported. Although the An-12 is no longer made in Ukraine, the Chinese Y-8 continues to be upgraded and produced. An estimated 75 Y-8 aircraft had been built by 2001.

[edit] Design and development

In the 1960s, China purchased several An-12 aircraft from the Soviet Union, along with license to assemble the aircraft locally. However, due to the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet Union withdrew its technical assistance. The Xi'an Aircraft Company and Xi'an Aircraft Design Institute worked to reverse engineer the An-12 for local production.^[1]

Design of the aircraft was completed by February 1972. Major features of the Y-8 included a similar fuselage to the H-6 bomber^[2], the same bomber's nose and tail turret,^[1] a roller-type dropping device instead of conveyor belt, and a gaseous oxygen system as opposed to a liquid system. The original Y-8 inherited the An-12’s twin 23mm cannon tail turret, but this was removed on subsequent variants.^[1]

The Y-8 equipped with four turboprop engines mounted under the leading edges of non-swept wings. The wings are attached high on the fuselage, and the tricycle landing gear is equipped with low pressure tires. The earliest versions used for the transportation of freight or troops had two side-hinged doors, while later variants used a rearward-facing ramp to facilitate loading and unloading of the payload. Some specialized versions omit the cargo ramp entirely.

The Y-8 is capable of carrying troops, dropping supplies, parachute drops, and functioning as an air ambulance. It also can be used for commercial uses as a freighter. It is capable of hauling 20 tons of cargo, approximately 96 soldiers, or about 82 paratroopers.^[2] It can also carry 60 severely wounded soldiers with their stretchers, 20 slightly injured soldiers and 3 medical attendants.^[2] Many variants for specialized roles have been built, but information on them can be vague or difficult to obtain due to the secretive nature of the Chinese military.

The Y-8 transport aircraft was put into trial production in the Xi'an Aircraft Factory in June 1972. By December 1974, the first Chinese-assembled Y-8 conducted its maiden flight. Following trial production of the first Y-8s, operations were transferred to the Shaanxi Aircraft Factory. The Shaanxi-produced Y-8s conducted their test flights in December 1975. After a regime of 66 test flights the Y-8 was officially certified for use by the Chinese government. By 1981, the Y-8 entered serial production.^[2]

In the late 1980s, Lockheed Martin, the American manufacturer of the C-130 Hercules, helped China to develop a pressurized cabin for the passenger version of Y-8, resulting in two versions: the first had half of the cabin pressurized and later, the second version in which the complete cabin was pressurized.^[1]

In 2001 and 2002, new consulting arrangements between Antonov and Shaanxi resulted in modernized redesigns to the Y-8's wing and fuselage. As a consequence the redesign allows the Y-8's fuel capacity to be increased by 50 percent.^[3]

[edit] Operational history

Y-8's have been used by the PLAAF and PLANAF in a wide variety of roles and some have been supplied to civilian operators. Export aircraft have been supplied to the Myanmar Republic air force, Sudanese Air Force and the Sri Lankan Air Force. Some Y-8 aircraft were used by the Sri Lanka Air Force as makeshiftbombers, dropping bombs from the rear doors, during the country's civil war, losing two units to Tamil Tiger Anti-Aircraft defences. were lost.^[4]

[edit] KJ-200 Accident

Main article: China PLA Air Force KJ-200 Accident

On June 3, 2006, a Chinese KJ-200 'Balance Beam' Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft crashed in Guangde County in the Anhui province, China.^[5] All 40 people onboard were killed. The Chinese official explanation was that the accident was due to heavy ice formation on the wings after the aircraft made repeated passes in and out of clouds in bad weather.^[6] However, the official Chinese report does not mention the exact type of the airborne early warning aircraft, only claiming that it was a 4-engine large military aircraft, and some who have claimed that the aircraft that crashed was a KJ-2000 instead of a KJ-200.

[edit] Variants

Y-8J Skymaster airborne early warning aircraft (top), Y-8X maritime patrol aircraft (below).

Y-8: The baseline unpressurized transport aircraft produced primarily for transport duties with the PLAAF.^[7]

Y-8A: Helicopter transport aircraft with rear loading ramp, travelling gantry removed and a hydraulically operated steady under the rear door.^[7]

Y-8AF: ASW platform under tests, with extended magnetic anomaly detector at the tail, the latest military version, looks similar to Y-8 Mineral research plane.^[7]

Y-8B: Unpressurised freight/passenger transport aircraft for CAAC.^[7]

Y-8C: Fully pressurised transport version with the rear cargo ramp of the Y-8B.^[7]

Y-8CA: (a.k.a. 'High New 1') Electronic Countermeasures aircraft with extensive arrays of aerials and a ventral canoe.^[7]

Y-8CB: Test bed for airborne radars for fighters, characterized by a sharp pointed nose cone.^[7]

Y-8D: Export military transport fitted with western avionics. The initial Y-8D was superseded by the Y-8DII.^[7]

Y-8DZ: (Dianzi Zhencha - ELINT)(a.k.a.'High New 2') Electronic signals intelligence version characterized by the cylindical array just in front of the vertical stabilizer.^[7]

Y-8E: Drone carrier aircraft for launching WZ-5 Chang Hong-1(Chang Hong - long rainbow) reconnaissance drones, reverse-engineered Ryan Firebees, to replace Tu-4 Drone launchers..

Y-8F: Live-stock transport aircraft with three tiers of cages either side of a central aisle, able to accommodate 350 sheep or goats. The livestock transport was developed to allow access to remote seasonal pastures.^[7]

Y-8F-100: Fitted with more powerful engines, EFIS, colour weather radar, TCAS and GPS.^[7]

Y-8F-200: This model has a 2.2m (7ft 10in) stretched fuselage.^[7]

Y-8F-300: Civil transort with western avionics.^[7]

Y-8F-400: As for Y-8F-300 but with pressurised cargo hold.^[7]

Y-8F-600: Newest civilian transport variant with a redesigned fuselage, Pratt and Whitney turboprop engines, an Electronic Flight Instrument System "glass cockpit", and a two-person crew.^[8]^[7]

Y-8G: ELINT platform (project).^[7]

Y-8G: IFR tanker. (project).^[7]

Y-8G: Airborne Command Post version a.k.a. 'High New 3' based on the Y-8F-200.^[7]

Y-8H: Aerial survey aircraft.^[7]

Y-8J: AWACS aircraft with British GEC-Marconi Argus-2000 (RACAL Skymaster) L-band pulse-doppler search radar in a large nose radome, with work stations for the operators in the cargo hold. Reputedly fully pressurised but lacking the cargo ramp associated with pressurised cargo holds.^[7]

Y-8K: 121-seat airliner.^[7]

Y-8T: Battlefield surveillance aircraft based on the Y-8F-400. Some sources claim it is an ECM aircraft.^[7]

Y-8X: (Xun - surveillance) Maritime Patrol Aircraft with western avionics, radar, mission systems and defensive aids. Some aircraft have been known to carry ELINT packages. Equipped with Litton Canada AN/APS-504(V) search radar for maritime surveillance missions. This version is characterized by a larger cylindrical radar radome under the nose similar to that on H-6 bomber.^[7]

Y-8XZ: (a.k.a. 'High New 7') a Psychological warfare aircraft for broadcasting TV and radio propaganda.^[7]

Y-8W: An AWACS version of the KJ-200 with 'Balance Beam phased array radar mounted above the fuselage.^[7]

Y-8 AWACS: Characterized by the large Rotodome strut supported over the rear fuselage and the triple tail configuration with large trapezoidal auxiliary fins at the tips of the tailplane, similar to the Beriev A-50.^[7]

Y-8 AWACS: Another AWACS version was studied at Shaanxi with large radomes at nose and tail in similar fashion to the abortive AEW Nimrod.^[7]

Y-8 Geophysical Survey Aircraft: Characterized by the extended magnetic anomaly detector at the tail, for finding potential mine sites, similar in appearance to an anti-submarine warfare platform and is often mistaken for the latter.^[7]

Y-8 Gunship: A projected gunship version based on the Y-8C with two heavy cannon and ports for three heavy machine-guns on the port side of the aircraft. Weapons aiming and target acquisition achieved by gyro-stabilissed opto=electronic sighting system in a ball turret unnder the nose. A steerable searchlight would be installed uin a pod under the port outer wing, as well as ESM and/or ECM pods as reqiuired.^[7]