WZ-19E Black Tornado - Export
China's domestic Z-19E armed helicopter completed firing flight tests, its developer the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) said 16 May 2018. "The Z-19E has shown its maneuverability and operational capability in the just concluded firing flight test phase, which marks a major step for the export model into the market," AVIC said. It conducted multiple flight tests with the airborne weapons such as the gun, air-to-air missile, air-to-ground missile in live weapon firing, and rocket projectile in precision attack. It also received a comprehensive test of the adaptation of the whole model and its fire control system, and passed the test verifications of the functions and flight performances, according to AVIC.
The export-oriented Z-19E is designed and manufactured by the AVIC Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Co. in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. It made a successful maiden flight in May 2017. The single rotor Z-19E has a tandem cockpit and a narrow body with the miniaturized and comprehensive avionic and weapon systems onboard, which endow it with capacities for multitasking in a complex all-weather environment. The model features a large effective load with a maximum take-off weight of 4.25 tonnes. Moreover, the Z-19E shows advantages in its range, ceiling, cruising speed and climbing rate, according to AVIC.
The Z-19E is armed with anti-tank and anti-armored personnel carrier missiles, and can also work with special ops' forces to carry out reconnaissance missions. HAIG designers touted the new helicopter's capabilities for daytime and nighttime operations, its maneuverability, cabin visibility, and safety features ensuring increased survivability for crew.
Observers from Zvezda – the official television network of the Russian Defense Ministry, were impressed with the WZ-19E's sleek styling, but suggested that its combat capabilities were questionable. Zvezda contributor Dmitri Yurov explained that judging by looks alone, the Z-19E certainly looks impressive: "The small helicopter looks more like a stealth drone than a strike vehicle."
"But is there a place for the futuristic machine outside China?" he asked. After all, the analyst noted that "the need for modern combat helicopters is generally determined by only three basic parameters: this is the so-called PAC rule – Protection, Armament, Cost." Yurov emphasized that when it comes to protection, conditions of modern warfare are such that helicopters need all the protection they can get. "Conflicts, even local ones, abound with a variety of destructive means, even when they are conducted in places where the fighting is done mostly by taped-together automatic rifles."
"Even the smallest active conflict comes with a large number of large-caliber machineguns, and old but still operational anti-aircraft artillery," Yurov added. "Ever since the Soviet War in Afghanistan, it has been clear that armored protection of the hull and cockpit is the first and most important element in the survivability of the helicopter and its crew." Unfortunately, the analyst noted that "over time, the lessons of the Afghan War and the use of helicopters in combat have been diligently forgotten by manufacturers."
"Piously believing in the correctness of their own arguments, foreign defense consortiums began developing and building what specialists have dubbed 'stealth helicopters'. Unique in many respects, the combat vehicles, fitted with a narrow fuselage, and bodies made out of composites and light alloys, have become the main attraction of arms exhibitions. One of the first choppers of this class was the Eurocopter Tiger – a joint development by French and German engineers. At exhibitions, developers often claimed that the Tiger's Kevlar hull and armored partitions would allow it to survive even hits from the 23-mm shells of the Soviet ZSU-23-4 Shilka [anti-aircraft gun]."
Speaking to Zvezda, Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Yuri Pogrebnyak, a veteran pilot who operated a Mil-24 helicopter gunship during the Soviet War in Afghanistan, said that advances in technology notwithstanding, it remains questionable whether the new tech justifies the light armor on the new light helicopter designs.
"During fighting, at times, we would come back to base with dozens of bullet holes from large-caliber machineguns. Our choppers would be out of service for a long time, and would take a long time to repair, but they always fulfilled their main task – the crew would make it back to the airfield. But the Mi-24 weighs over 10 tons! I'm afraid to even consider what would happen if a helicopter made of polymers was hit by a [23-mm round]. Such materials have advanced a long way, of course, but the old ammunition hasn't gone anywhere. It remains a big question who would emerge the winner in such a contest."
As for the Z-19 and its new export model, the Z-19E, Yurov suggested that this design does not seem to meet the demands of a modern war, "even of the smallest kind." From its power plant, to the fan-in-tail rotor design, to the concept of reduced visibility using electronics, "all of this is very similar to what the French and Germans attempted to create with the Tiger almost thirty years ago."
According to Yurov, "Major customers engaged in upgrading their air forces prefer to buy heavily armored and armed helicopters capable of taking on enemy tank groups and withstanding dozens of hits by bullets and several missiles. The Z-19, with all due respect to stealth technologies, cannot boast such indicators."
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