Landing the Big One

Landing the Big One

Saturday, July 08, 2006

New Chinese WZ-10 Attack Helicopter - where have we seen this design before?



SinoDefence.com says:
Changhe Aircraft Industries Group (CAIG) and China Helicopter Research and Development Institute (CHRDI), both based at Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, are currently developing an attack helicopter for the PLA. The helicopter, which is often referred to as Wuzhuang Zhisheng-10 (WZ-10), is said to be a third-generation two-seat design comparable in size and performance to the European Tiger and South African Rooivalk.

The WZ-10 helicopter is believed to have been under development since the late 1990s under tight security. Very little information about the project is available. Chenghe’s parent company, AVIC II, is currently working with European partners on the common helicopter dynamic system, which can be used on both the proposed medium helicopter and the attack helicopter. However, China has not sought outside help with the attack helicopter’s mission system, mainly due to security reasons.

Limited information revealed on Internet has confirmed that the helicopter features a stepped tandem two-seat cockpit and narrow fuselage similar to Western designs. The helicopter has a five-blade main rotor and a four-blade tail rotor. The helicopter has a chin-mounted 30mm cannon and a pair of stub wings carrying ATGMs and/or other weapons. China is also said to have been developing the new HJ-10 ATGM comparable to the U.S. AGM-114 Hellfire for the WZ-10, but this cannot be confirmed.
Doesn't seem too mysterious to me where they got the design... blue bird is the WZ-10. The other is the US Army Apache AH-64.

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