Y-20 carries pride of nation

Global footprint

The regiment's expanding capabilities have translated into a growing global footprint. Pilot Liu Jiajun, one of the regiment's most well-traveled young aviators, said overseas missions have become routine. "We have more overseas missions now than ever before," he said. "The English requirement has become very high."

The most telling measure of the Y-20's impact is the reaction it draws abroad. Pilot Zhao Yingkun, who previously flew the Il-76 before converting to the Y-20 in 2020, said the difference is palpable. "When I flew the Il-76 on overseas missions, Chinese communities abroad were proud to see our flag — yet the plane beneath it was not ours," he said."Now, with the Y-20, we are not just showing a flag — we are showing China's comprehensive aerospace strength."

Zhao's most memorable mission came in 2024, when he led seven J-10 aerobatic demonstrator aircraft from China to Saudi Arabia for a defense exhibition — a 4,000-km journey. "It was a boundary-testing mission," he said. "It extended our operational radius and proved what this platform can do."

At the Saudi showground, foreign military enthusiasts and experts crowded around the Y-20.

"China is no longer a country that has to borrow designs from foreign-made weapons decades ago. They ask when they can buy our Y-20," Zhao said.

"I stand on the shoulders of giants," he said. "My predecessors gave us a solid foundation. Now we must study this machine thoroughly and build tactics for the future. China's air force must go global — and our equipment must go with it."

Humanitarian missions test the Y-20's tactical boundaries as much as any exercise — and the dangers are real. Technician Zhang Yichao, the regiment's youngest engineer, was on the 2022 mission to deliver relief supplies to Tonga after a volcanic eruption. "We packed the cargo hold as full as we could — every bit of space," the 30-year-old said."We flew across five time zones, a combined total of more than 40,000 km." The flight encountered severe weather — heavy rain, thunderstorms and turbulence. "I remember the rain hitting the fuselage — it was loud, unforgettable. You don't think of humanitarian missions as dangerous, but every flight has its risks."