BEIJING (PTI): Close on the heels of developing force multipliers like aircraft carrier and stealth fighters, China is making a large military transport plane apparently to move troops and supplies in greater numbers to distant places.
"We are developing a large aircraft to improve the capability of air transport" of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Yang Yujun, a spokesman of the Defence Ministry, was quoted as saying in the official media in Beijing.
The plane is being developed as part of the military modernisation drive, as well as to meet the demands of disaster relief work and humanitarian aid in emergency situations, he said.
Large military transport aircraft are generally defined in China as military transport planes with a maximum takeoff weight of about 200 tonnes and 50 tonnes of payload capacity.
Yang did not give a detailed timeline for the development of the plane, only saying that "the research and development of the large transport aircraft is going forward as planned," state-run Global Times reported.
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