WZ-10 Attack Helicopter - Program
Prior to the WZ-10 China had yet to produce an indigenously designed helicopter. The WZ-10 is thus a bellwether of the improvements in China's helicopter design and production capabilities. Although the helicopter might still not be as capable as the US AH-64 Apache, it will probably play a significant role in Army Aviation modernization and force capabilities.
Development of a dedicated attack helicopter began in the mid-1990s at the 602 Institute and Changhe Aircraft Industry Company (CHAIC) in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province. According to another report, the PLA originally selected the the MI-35 but chose the Franco-German Tiger as the source of emulation. Around 1991-92 the PLA leased a single Pakistani AH-1 for technical evaluation. The WZ-10 attack helicopter suffered several delays due to engine related troubles, and finally flew for the first time on 29 April 2003.
The need to equip the PLA with helicopter gunships became clear to the Chinese military leadership after the success of the US and its allies in Operation Desert Storm. The lack of attack helicopters was seen as a key shortcoming of the PLA. Earlier, tests had been carried out in China using the Z-5 (MI-4). But various shortcomings were clear, such as the lack of the necessary attack helicopter fire control system, poor engine power and vulnerability to ground fire.
The limited edition French SA342 Gazelles purchased by the PLA in the 1980s were the first real combat helicopters in Chinese service. As a result of operation with this machine, the Chinese concluded that it did not fully meet the needs of the PLA. It was too small (2 tons), so the platform severely limited the combat capabilities and the range of application of this machine. But SA342 played an important role in the development of the PLA Army Aviation. As the first attack helicopters in the Chinese Army, they allowed Chinese commanders to develop tactics and procedures to improve airborne weapons attack helicopters.
The first Chinese attack helicopter, the Z-9W, entered service with the PLA in the 1990s. The helicopter was a Chinese built variant of the FrenchSA365N Dauphin-2, equipped with pylons on the sides of the fuselage, from which were suspended HJ-8 anti-tank missiles and pods with guns. Although the creation of Z-9W was a step forward for the Chinese military, this helicopter also demonstrated a number of serious shortcomings, including poor equipment, and the inability to use at night and in adverse weather conditions. Some of these problems were solved with the creation of Z-9WA helicopter, in which the number of external stations was increased from two to four, resulting in the number of missiles HJ-8 growing from 4 to 8. The helicopter can also used the air-to-air TY-90 missiles. A rotating turret mounted in the nose of the helicopter includes an infrared surveillance system, CCD-camera and laser rangefinder. However, the helicopter also did not meet the requirements of the PLA, and could only be regarded as a transitional type before f a the specialized attack helicopter WZ-10 entered into service.
China embarked on the WZ-10 projectin the 1990s, with comprehensive capabilities roughly at the level of the American Helicopter AH-1W Super Cobra and the Italian A-129, and in terms of mobility, similar to the AH- 64 Apache and the Russian Mi-28. With the appearance of this helicopter the Chinese army finally got a dedicated attack helicopter similar to those of the armed forces of other countries.
But attempts to create a heavier attack helicopter may cause additional technical difficulties. As is well known, for China the bottleneck is creating an engine for the attack helicopter. In general, despite the advantages of heavy-lift helicopters, the choice of the technical aspect WZ-10 was made on the basis of objective circumstances and needs of the Chinese army.
China's first dedicated attack helicopter entered service more than 40 years after the US Army's AH-1G Cobra. The WZ-10 has powerful weapons, including HJ-10 anti-tank missiles and TY-90 air-to-air missiles. The number of missiles on the Chinese helicopter - eight - is the same as the Eurocopter Tiger and A-129. But this is half than that of AH-64, Mi-28, or Ka-50/52, which are capable of carrying 16 anti-tank missiles. As for the range of anti-tank weapons, ATGM HJ-10 has a maximum range of 8 kilometers, about the performance of Russian and American helicopter anti-tank systems. By 2012 the Z-10 helicopter was in production, and initial batches were delivered to the People’s Liberation Army of China in 2009 and 2010. The primary mission of the Z-10 is anti-armor and battlefield interdiction. Weapons of the Z-10 have included 30-mm cannons, anti-tank guided missiles, air-to-air missiles and unguided rockets.
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