The National Guard of the Republic of Kazakhstan has received its first Y8F200W military transport aircraft from China.

According to Kazakhstan’s source, the National Guard has received into service the first of 8 ordered Chinese-made Y8F200W military transport aircraft.

The aircraft is built by the Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation at its facility in Hanzhong, Shaanxi province. The Y8F200W modification is different from basic version elongated by 2.2 m fuselage.

The new aircraft is the iteration of a family of aircraft that began with the Soviet-made Antonov An-12 ‘Cub’, which first flew in 1957.

The Y8F200W is a medium-size and medium-range transport aircraft that can take off on gravel or snow-covered runways with an altitude within 3,000 meters above the sea level.  It is using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings and was designed specifically to transport troops and equipment.

The Shaanxi Y8 roughly comparable to the United States’ Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules.

The aircraft maker has exported the Y-8 series aircraft to more than 3 countries (some source reported about 10 countries) and regions since 1980s.