A group of six Y-20 transports, one after another, flew through the airspace of the two NATO members and landed at the airport in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
Photos circulating on social media on April 10 show the Y-20 aircraft of the Air Force China landed at Nikola Tesla airport in the Serbian capital Belgrade a day earlier, sparking speculation about the activity of Chinese military aircraft in Europe.
Data provided by Flightradar24 and ADSBexchange shows that the previous group of Chinese military aircraft that flew over the airspace of the two NATO member countries was Turkey and Bulgaria.
Editors Stetson Payne and Tyler Rogoway of Drive “The arrival of Y-20 in Europe in any quantity is a new development”. Military expert Aleksandar Radic said that the Y-20 transport group appeared in Europe as “an act of showing China’s force”.
Military experts believe that the Chinese transport group can transfer the HQ-22 air defense missile complex to the military. Serbia. At least of these include a Y-20U refueling aircraft.
The Ministry of Defense of Serbia has not commented on the information that China has transferred the HQ-22 complex to this country.
Transporter Y-20 aircraft landed at Nikola Tesla airport in Belgrade, Serbia on April 9. Image: FlyingHigh Aviation.
President Aleksandar Vucic said on April 9 that he would present the “latest pride” of the Serbian army on April 12 or 13. Vucic said that China and Serbia agreed on the sale of HQ-22 air defense missiles from 2019, but did not confirm whether the medium-range air defense complex had arrived in Serbia.
US officials in 2020 warned Serbia about the sale of Chinese-made HQ-22 air defense missiles with an export variant called FK-3. They say that if Serbia wants to join the European Union (EU) or NATO, it must adapt its military equipment to Western standards.
HQ-22 can hit targets 170 km away and at a maximum altitude of 27 km. The HQ-22 is often compared to the American Patriot system and the Russian S-300, although the complex has a shorter range than the new S-300 variant. After commissioning HQ-22, Serbia will be the first European country to operate Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.
A group of Chinese Y-20 aircraft flew over the airspace of Turkey and Bulgaria on April 9. Graphics: ADSBexchange.
Nguyen Tien (According to AP)
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