Changhe Z-10
Chinese attack helicopter / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Changhe Z-10 (Chinese: 直-10, "helicopter-10") is a Chinese medium attack helicopter developed for the People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It is designed primarily for anti-tank warfare missions but has secondary air-to-air combat capability as well.
Z-10 | |
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A Z-10 displaying at the 2012 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition. | |
Role | Attack helicopter |
Manufacturer | Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation (CAIC) |
Design group | Kamov[1][2][3][4] |
First flight | 29 April 2003 |
Introduction | December 2012 |
Status | In service[5] |
Primary user | People's Liberation Army Ground Force Pakistan Army Aviation Corps |
Produced | 2003-present |
Initiated by chief designer Wu Ximing, the project had early Russian involvement with Kamov Design Bureau of Russia under a contract with the Chinese government, but the collaboration was abruptly stopped due to fundamental design philosophy disagreements. The Chinese designers and their customer, the PLA General Armaments Department, preferred a lighter-weight, more agile airframe with less emphasis on armor. The helicopter was further developed by Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation (CAIC) and is locally manufactured.[1][3][4]
Nicknames of characters in the Chinese classic novel Water Margin have been used to name Z-10 and its light-weight counterpart, the Harbin Z-19: Z-10 is called Fierce Thunderbolt (Pi Li Huo, 霹雳火), the nickname of Qin Ming, while Z-19 is called Black Whirlwind (Hei Xuan Feng, 黑旋风), the nickname of Li Kui.[6][7]
In September 2016, the PLA announced that all of its army aviation units had been equipped with the Z-10.[8]