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China’s military
ChinaMilitary

Chinese Y-20 planes spotted at Russian airport on same day as joint patrol near Alaska

  • Satellite images show Y-20 transport aircraft deployed in Russia, possibly to support Chinese H-6K bombers, in sign of growing military ties

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China’s Y-20, nicknamed the “chubby girl”, can carry out long-distance air transport of goods and personnel, while its Y-20U variant can refuel other Chinese military aircraft. Photo: AP
Amber Wangin Beijing

Two Chinese military transport planes were spotted by satellite at a Russian airport around the time Chinese and Russian warplanes patrolled near Alaska last month, according to a new report, in the latest sign of growing military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.

Two Chinese air force Y-20 transport aircraft, which sometimes play a support role in air missions, were deployed at Anadyr airfield in Chukotka in Russia’s Far East on July 24, the University of Tokyo’s Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology said in an analysis released on Friday, citing satellite images.

The pair were spotted the same day that Chinese H-6K bombers joined patrols with two Russian Tu-95MS bombers in the Chukchi Sea and Bering Sea.

The joint patrol marked the first time Russia and China jointly deployed bombers near Alaska, signalling the deepening of military ties between the two countries.

The report argued that the Chinese bombers, with a range of about 6,000km (3,728 miles), could not make round trips from China to the Bering Sea, and thus was likely to have taken off from a nearby Russian airport.

“Therefore, it is very likely that the H-6K was deployed from a base in Russia in order to reach the Arctic,” the report stated.

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