Y-8 Series of medium military transport aircraft has a maximum payload of 20 tons.
It is powered by four turboprop engines and has a pressurized cabin and a ramp door.
It can carry up to 86 soldiers, 60 paratroopers or 72 stretchers.
For cargo transport, it can carry 4 pallets of 96″×125″ or military vehicles.
Variants
Y-8
The baseline unpressurized transport aircraft produced primarily for transport duties with the PLAAF
Y-8A
Helicopter transport aircraft with rear loading ramp, travelling gantry removed and a hydraulically operated steady under the rear door
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
Y-8B
Unpressurised freight/passenger transport aircraft for CAAC
Y-8C
Fully pressurised transport version with the rear cargo ramp of the Y-8B
Y-8CA
Electronic Countermeasures aircraft with extensive arrays of aerials and a ventral canoe
Y-8CB
ECM variant, characterized by a sharp pointed nose cone
Y-8D
Export military transport fitted with western avionics
The initial Y-8D was superseded by the Y-8DII
Y-8DZ
Electronic signals intelligence version characterized by the cylindrical array just in front of the vertical stabilizer
Y-8E
Drone carrier aircraft for launching WZ-5 Chang Hong-1 reconnaissance drones, reverse engineered Ryan Firebees, to replace Tu-4 Drone launchers
Y-8F
Livestock 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
Y-8FQ
Maritime Patrol variant with modified tail housing a boom-mounted magnetic anomaly detector to detect submarines
Y-8F-100
Fitted with more powerful engines, EFIS, colour weather radar, TCAS and GPS
Y-8F-200
This model has a 2.2m (7 ft 10in) stretched fuselage, Capacity: 23 tons
Y-8F-200WA
Exported to Kazakhstan
Y-8F-400
As for Y-8F-300 but with pressurised cargo hold,
Capacity
23 tons
Y-8GX1
Electronic Warfare (VHF/UHF Tactical Jamming)
Y-8GX3
Airborne Command Post and ECM version based on the Y-8F-200
Y-8GX7 Electronic attack
At least 3 known to be in service stationed in Fujian
Y-8H
Aerial survey aircraft
Y-8J
AWACS aircraft with British GEC-Marconi Argus-2000 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
Y-8J
AEW aircraft with Sky Master radar
Y-8JB
ELINT variant
Y-8Q
ASW variant, surface search radar, FLIR, internal bomb bay, SATCOM, and tail MAD
Y-8T
C3I command post and battlefield surveillance aircraft based on the Y-8F-400
Y-8U
Experimental aircraft equipped with British Mk 32 aerial refuelling pods for the development of Chinese aerial refuelling technology
Y-8W
An AWACS version of the KJ-200 with ‘Balance Beam phased array radar mounted above the fuselage
Y-8X
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
Y-8XZ
A Psychological warfare aircraft for broadcasting TV and radio propaganda
KJ-200/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
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
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
Y-8 Anti-Submarine Aircraft
Anti-submarine variant revealed in 2012
The anti-submarine variant has a large air-to-surface search radar, a side-looking ISAR radar and a magnetic anomaly detection tube
ZDK-03
A variant designed specifically for export to the Pakistan Air Force, with a total of 4 ordered
Consists of a Chinese AESA radar mounted on the Y-8F600 platform
The radar is reported to have a greater range than that of the PAF’s Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C radar and the aircraft incorporates open architecture electronics to make future upgrades easier to implement
Delivery of the first aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force was expected by the end of 2010
The first aircraft was delivered 2011 and the fourth and last aircraft delivered 2015
ZDK-06
An export-oriented airborne warning and control system featuring the JY-06 active electronically scanned array and Pulse-Doppler radar
KJ-500
An airborne warning and control system featuring three active electronically scanned array radars arranged in a triangular array, with additional electronic intelligence antennae and further radar antennae on its fuselage to provide 360 degree coverage