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Modernization

Slash Servicemembers, Kunpeng Makers

斜杠军人 鲲鹏创客
PLA Daily (解放军报) 9 July 2026
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An unidentified PLA Air Force aviation regiment — described as the military's oldest transport unit — has fully transitioned to the Y-20 and established an in-unit innovation studio called 'Wings of the Kunpeng,' which has produced tools including a mission planning system developed by aircrew members. The article documents a recurring institutional pattern in PLA aviation units: pushing technical development and software work down to the operator level rather than relying solely on the defense industrial base, here framed as a cultural identity ('slash servicemembers, Kunpeng makers') to normalize the dual combatant-researcher role. The specific claim that aircrew hand-coded a mission planning system raises the question of how much Y-20 operational software development is occurring organically within units versus through formal AVIC or PLA procurement channels.

A certain regiment of the Air Force Aviation Corps is the earliest transport aircraft unit established in the entire military. Entering the new era, this unit has comprehensively re-equipped with the Y-20 (codenamed "Kunpeng") series aircraft, continuously enhancing strategic airlift capabilities, steadily expanding the boundaries of support, and becoming "the wings of a great power."

The magnificent flight paths traced by the Kunpeng are inseparable from the innovative breakthroughs of the regiment's officers and soldiers. They established the "Wings of the Kunpeng" innovation studio and produced multiple achievements including a mission planning system. Among them are "a flight ace who hand-codes software," a "surgeon," a "master calculator," and a "traditional Chinese medicine team" (中医团队)… They are both combatants and researchers. They are "slash servicemembers (斜杠军人), Kunpeng makers (鲲鹏创客)."

(Video planning/production: "Xuexi Qiangguo" reporters Fan Zhanying and Zhang Jie)

Original Chinese
空军航空兵某团是全军最早组建的运输机部队。进入新时代,这支部队全面换装运-20(代号“鲲鹏”)系列飞机,战略投送能力不断提升,支撑边界不断拓展,成为“大国之翼”。 鲲鹏的一道道壮丽航迹,离不开该团官兵的创新突破。他们成立了“鲲鹏之翼”创新工作室,推出任务规划系统等多项成果。他们中有“手搓代码的飞行高手”“外科医生”“神算子”“中医团队”……他们既是战斗员,也是研究员。他们是“斜杠军人,鲲鹏创客”。 (视频策划/制作:“学习强国”记者范占英 张洁)