Rumoured Chinese Y-30 takes to the air, offering a home-grown rival to the Airbus A400M
December 17, 2025
China appears to have flown its turboprop Airbus A400M challenger, the Y-30, in public for the first time. The event marks another milestone as the PLAAF modernises and turns to domestic Chinese solutions, breaking free of its Soviet legacy.
Rumoured Chinese Y-30 medium transport aircraft takes flight
According to the OSINT account, Rupprecht_A, which specialises in monitoring new developments in Chinese military aviation. China has flown its previously rumoured Y-30 medium transport aircraft. The event was also reported by other noted OSINT accounts, including International Defence Analysis.
As it seems, we have our first Chinese Christmas surprise 🥳… according to several news reports and even short video footage, the Y-30 performed its maiden flight today.
— @RupprechtDeino (@RupprechtDeino) December 16, 2025
Rupprecht_A has been the English-language source to report previous news revelations of new Chinese military aircraft.
Earlier today, the account posted, “As it seems, we have our first Chinese Christmas surprise… according to several news reports and even short video footage, the Y-30 performed its maiden flight today.”
The concept of the aircraft was first unveiled in November 2014 during Airshow China in Zhuhai, when a model of the aircraft with a T-tail was displayed.
Filling a similar role to the Airbus A400M Atlas
Images posted show a military quad-engined turboprop aircraft flying. From the images shown, the Y-30 appears to resemble the European Airbus A400M Atlas.
The new expected medium airlifter (?Y-30), has flown.
— Rick Joe (@RickJoe_PLA) December 16, 2025
T-tail, straight wing+winglets, 4x turboprops, likely wider fuselage than Y-9.
(Looks like an air data probe out front, I doubt it's IFR probe).
Still a couple weeks left in the year for PLA aviation to surprise us I suppose.
It is designed to fill a similar role, filling the gap between tactical and strategic aircraft. The A400M is sized between tactical airlifters like the C-130J Super Hercules, the Embraer C-390 Millennium, and strategic airlifters like the C-17 Globemaster III.
The Y-30 is designed to bridge the gap between China’s Y-9 medium transport aircraft and its larger Y-20 strategic airlifter. The new airlifter is also expected to replace older Y-8 and Y-9 models.
It is reported to have a planned payload capacity of around 30 tonnes. For reference, the Super Hercules has a payload capacity of 19 to 21 tonnes, while the A400M has 37 tonnes that may soon be increased to 40 tonnes.
The Shaanxi Y-9 is a lengthened and upgraded development of the Shaanxi Y-8, which was based on the Soviet-era Antonov An-12. The jet-powered Xi’an Y-20 first entered service in 2016 and is China’s answer to the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlifter.
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Boosting the transport fleet with a massive tanker gap remaining
According to FlightGlobal’s 2026 review of world air forces, China currently has a fleet of 287 military transport aircraft. This places it third, behind the United States (917) and Russia (458) but ahead of India (277) and France (118).
Its transports are listed as including 27 Ilyushin Il-76s, 15 Xi’an MA60s, 48 Xi’an Y-7s, 80 Shaanxi Y-8s, 24 Shaanxi Y-9s, 11 Harbin Y-12s, and 34 Xi’an Y-20s. Note that the list includes everything from strategic airlifters to twin-engine turboprop utility aircraft.
While China is making strides to modernise its air force and is unveiling a seemingly less torrent of new UAVs of various capabilities and fighter jets, one major area the force is still lacking is tanker aircraft.
Tankers are a cornerstone of the US Air Force’s ability to project power. US tankers were required to enable Argentina to ferry its new F-16s to South America, while the USAF used more tankers in Operation Midnight Hammer to bomb Iran than any other air force has in total.
According to Flight Global, the US has 75% of the world’s tankers (610), with Saudi Arabia coming second at 3% (22). China is tied in eighth place with the United Kingdom, with just 1% or nine examples. It would fall to ninth place if the RAF’s five Voyager tankers contracted with AirTanker Ltd are included.
Featured Image: X / International Defence Analysis
