Zitat:China’s New Medium Airlifter Has Flown for the First Time

A long-rumored medium-class airlifter was seen flying for the first time at the XAC airfield (Xi’an Aircraft Corporation) in the city of Xi’an in Central China. Low-quality images that have started to circulate online show an aircraft that is largely similar to models of a “New Medium Transport” aircraft shown by AVIC (AViation Industry corporation of China) in the past, suggesting that the type has entered the flight testing phase. [...]

The new aircraft is powered by four turboprop engines and appears to be considerably smaller than the A400M, despite the two sharing a broadly similar external configuration. It is unclear what exact engine the new aircraft is fitted with, but it is likely to be a variant of the WJ-6 (which also powers other platforms such as the KJ-600, Y-8, and Y-9 alongside Special Mission variants of the aircraft), considering that the engines feature four six-bladed propellers.