WZ-10
Encyclopedia
The WZ-10 (WZ, 武直 = Wuzhuang Zhishengji, 武装直升机, literally "Armed Helicopter") is an attack helicopter
developed by the People's Republic of China
. It is designed primarily for anti-tank missions but is believed to have a secondary air-to-air capability as well. It is being built by Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
(CAIC).
solution were attack helicopter
s. Eight Aérospatiale Gazelle
armed with Euromissile HOT
were procured for evaluation.
By the mid-1980s, the Chinese decided a dedicated attack helicopter was required. At the time, they used civilian helicopters converted for the military; these were no longer adequate in the attack role, and suitable only as scouts. Following this, China evaluated the Agusta A129 Mangusta, and in 1988 secured an agreement with the USA to purchase AH-1 Cobra
s and a license to produce BGM-71 TOW
missiles; the latter was cancelled following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
and the resulting arms embargo. The colour revolutions prevented the purchase of attack helicopters from Eastern Europe in 1990 and 1991; Bulgaria
and Russia
rejected Chinese offers to purchase the Mil Mi-24
.
While attempted to import foreign designs failed, war games determined that attack helicopters had to be commanded by the army, rather than the air force. This led to the formation of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Air Force (PLAGFAF), with an initial strength of 9 Harbin Z-9
. The PLAGFAF conducted tactical experiments that would help define the future WZ-10's requirements. Research also decided that anti-tank missiles like the BGM-71 TOW were inadequate, and favoured an analogue to the AGM-114 Hellfire
. These findings ensured the WZ-10 would be based around the new missile.
highlighted the urgent need for attack helicopters, and revalidated the assessment that a purpose-built design was needed. (At the time, the Chinese military depended on armed utility helicopters such as the Changhe Z-11 and Harbin Z-9
.) Also, it demonstrated that the new attack helicopter would need to be able to defend itself against other helicopters and aircraft. The military perceived that once the new attack helicopter entered service, the existing helicopters would be used as scouts.
To fill the gap in the short term, the Chinese attempted to procure a license to manufacture Mil Mi-28
s; the deal fell apart in 1994.
This left the indigenous program. In 1990, or 1991, the Armed Helicopter Developmental Work Team (武装直升机开发工作小组) was formed to develop a new medium helicopter design, as opposed to basing the new design on the light helicopters then in service. The 602nd and 608th Research Institutes started development of the 6-ton class China Medium Helicopter (CHM) program in 1994. The program was promoted as a civilian project, and was able to secure significant Western technical assistance, such as from Eurocopter (rotor installation design consultancy), Pratt & Whitney
Canada (PT6C turboshaft engine) and Agusta Westland (transmission). The Chinese concentrated on areas where it could not obtain foreign help.
The WZ-10 program was called the Special Armed Project (专武工程), a short form for Special Use Armed Helicopter Project (专用武装直升机工程). Development was kept under stricter secrecy than the Chengdu J-10
fighter. Nearly ¥
4 billion was initially invested and the WZ-1- became one of the most important programs begun in the 9th 5-yr plan.
The 602nd Research Institute was assigned as the chief designer, while Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
(HAMC) of China Aviation Industry Corporation II
(AVIC II) was assigned as the primary manufacturer. Nearly four dozen other establishments participated in the program. In the summer of 1999, AVIC II
began to use a CAMC Z-8 to test newly developed WZ-10 sub-systems. In autumn of the same year, a Harbin Z-9
was added to the test aircraft inventory. These tests concentrated on sub-systems such as the fire-control systems, HOTAS controls
and navigation systems.
South Africa provided limited help in the area of flight stability based on experience from designing the Denel AH-2 Rooivalk. South Africans assistence ceased in 2001.
fell apart just as the Mil Mi-28
deal several years earlier. The repeated failures in obtaining foreign attack helicopters reinforced feelings that China had no choice but to ignore foreign options and develop its own such aircraft and work on the WZ-10 accelerated. In the same year, HAMC
transferred most of its production responsibilities to CAIC
of AVIC II
. The official reason given was excessive workload; HAMC was busy producing the HC120 and Harbin Z-9
, as well as other fixed-wing aircraft such as the Harbin Y-12
, and thus was stretched to the limit. However, many speculated that HAMC was not performing well enough due to rigid and ineffective Soviet-style management practices, believed to have caused the company to go into debt.
Although HAMC was in the process of reform, which finally succeeded, the government and military were weary and impatient. The SH-5 factory had become very profitable after its successful restructuring and reform, but it had to get out of the aircraft manufacturing business for good, manufacturing pressurized tanks and other specialized containers. It was decided that the WZ-10 program was too important to be run by HAMC, so a more stable contractor was sought and CAIC
was selected. HAMC still retained responsibility for production of certain sub-systems and components, for which it could utilize experience gained from manufacturing parts for foreign helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft such as the Embraer ERJ 145 family
.
In May 2002, the WZ-10 tail rotor and some other components were tested on the ground by the 602nd Research Institute. In April 2003, a WZ-10 prototype completed its maiden flight at Lumeng (吕蒙) airfield, the airfield having been assigned to CAIC
for such use. According to Chinese sources, the initial test flights were concluded on December 17, 2003, whereas according to other sources they were completed nine month earlier in March 2003. According to Jane's Information Group
, a total of 3 prototypes had completed over 400 hours of test flights by this time. By 2004 3 more prototypes were built, for a total of 6, and a second stage of test flights were concluded on December 15, 2004. In one of the test flights the future commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force
Air Force (PLAGAF), Song Xiangsheng (宋湘生), was on board the prototype. A third stage of intensive test flights followed, taking place during both day and night. By January 2006 weaponry and sensor tests, including firing of live ammunition, were taking place.
Prototypes and a small number of pre-production aircraft are in service with the Chinese military for evaluation. The design is undergoing continuous minor modification and upgrade based on the feedback.
. Mr. Wu had participated in the designs of the armed version of transport helicopters Z-8A and WZ-9
, and as the chief designer and project manager of WZ-10, he completed 5 years of work in just 2 years. WZ-10 is the first Chinese helicopter that eventually achieved paperless de
sign, and the all electronic / online design enabled the design work to be completed within a year. In order to complete the necessary development, the 602nd Research Institute and CAIC
had jointly built brand-new engineering design center, industrial simulator, aircraft engine ground test center, fatigue laboratory, and full-scale rotary test platform (nicknamed as Iron Bird Platform, 铁鸟台). With the exception of the engineering design center, all of the rest facilities are claimed to be the largest of their kinds in Asia.
The new facilities had helped China to overcome many difficulties it faced in the development and since the end of 2001, the longest test was completed on the full-scale rotary test platform, paving the way for the future test flights. Composite material is widely used in the WZ-10 but China faced difficulties in this field, particularly in the area of survivability during crashes. Huge efforts were spent to domestically develop composite materials able to provide comparable levels of survivability to Western counterparts. This achievement earned a 2nd place in the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) progress reward.
B. The adaptation of western military standard means that western weaponry can be readily deployed on WZ-10, and the developer claims that all it needed was to add a module or interface to accomplish this. The ease of being compatible with multiple weaponry would also help to expand the export market of WZ-10 in the future.
. The difference in layout between the two configurations is that in one configuration, there are three color LCD
multi-function display
s (MFD), while the other, these are replaced by two larger LCD MFDs. It’s not clear which one is originated from foreign system and which is indigenously developed, but it’s reported that the practice of having different configurations thanks to the modular design is for export purposes, to fit the potential customer countries’ pilots’ habits. However, there is a rumor that China initially lacked the faith in its domestic system during the early stage of the development of WZ-10, due to the backward Chinese industrial capability at the time, so a backup was developed in parallel as a precaution, and the help to potential export resulted later was just a coincidence. A small number of mechanical dial indicators are also retained as a backup in case the MFDs have failed.
WZ-10 is also the very first indigenous Chinese helicopter that adopts HOTAS
, but a traditional conventional control system had been developed in parallel as a backup, just as the case of cockpit MFDs, and for exactly the same reason why two configurations of flight instrumentation were developed in parallel. The erroneous claim of installing Russian K-36/37 ejection seat in the cockpit of WZ-10 proved to be false, and the survival of pilots in emergencies landing depends on the crashworthiness of helicopter. To counter balance the weight of the armor protecting the pilots, flight instrumentation panel is the place where composite material is mostly used, as in the case of the dashboard of automobiles, where plastic material concentrates. One of the greatest challenges was to find the right composite material that is fit to use, while at the same time, also meets the safety standard so that during a fire, the pilots would not be knocked out by the toxic fume released by the burning composite material.
The onboard inertial navigation system
(INS) is fully integrated with GPS/GLONASS
system, and provisions are made for future upgrades to include Galileo (satellite navigation)/Beidou navigation system
when expanded capabilities of these systems become available. For potential export customers, it can selection any satellite navigation systems of its choice, though GPS is usually the norm. In addition, despite developer’s claim of the navigational system of WZ-10 can utilize a variety of satellite navigation to improve its accuracy, the integrated GPS corrected INS is the only system that has been shown to the public at Zhuhai Airshows and other defense exhibitions. A modified Blue Sky navigation pod
can also carried by WZ-10. Information is shared via secured data-link that provide real time and near real time information.
system of WZ-10 is the first Chinese EW system that integrates the radar, radar warning receivers (RWR)
, laser warning receivers (LWR), electronic support measures (ESM)
and electronic counter-measures (ECM) together. The system is designated YH-96 (YH = Yu Huo, 浴火), named after the YH radar. YH-96 is claimed to have a high interception rate of hostile signals, and in the fully automatic mode, it can automatically analyze the threat and launch different decoys and jamming signals accordingly. Alternatively, pilots can choose to launch decoys or jamming enemy sensors themselves.
Like the modified Blue Sky navigation pod
, a modified BM/KG300G
self protection jamming pod can also be carried, usually on one of the hard points of the stub wings. Similarly, a modified KZ900
reconnaissance pod can be carried for reconnaissance missions, although all of these additions come at the cost of reducing the number of hardpoints available for carrying weaponry. Usually, only one of such pod is carried at any one time. The identification friend or foe (IFF)
system of WZ-10 is specially designed to work in an environment of heavy enemy jamming. All internally mounted jamming and decoy launching systems are built with the concept of modular design, so that they can be readily replaced when newer technologies become available.
(optronics) system, which utilizes experience gained from earlier manufacturing of similar French and Israeli systems, combining the best of two, but only hardware wise. The software is completely indigenously developed by China on its own. The optronics FCS is manufactured by the 218th Factory of China North Industries Group Corp (中国兵器工业集团公司), a small and relatively unknown factory which was hidden in the busy commercial and residential area for more than four decades in the Chongwen Precinct
of Beijing
, until its relocation in the beginning of the 21st century. In the first decade of the 21st century, the 218th Factory would first expanded to form Beijing China Optical Instruments Ltd. (北京华北光学仪器有限公司), and later further expanded to China North Industries Group Corporation Elctro-Opticals Science & Technology Ltd. (中兵光电科技股份有限公司.) The chief designer was Dr. Li Baoping (李保平), who were transferred from the 203rd Research Institute in Xi'an
to Beijing
in 2001 to become the deputy bureau chief of the Electro-Optical Bureau of the China North Industries Group Corp, and at the same time, the project manager of optronics FCS of WZ-10. The next year, Dr. Li was named as the chief executive officer
of the 218th Factory in addition, and under his leadership, the company not only developed the optronics FCS of WZ-10 during its rapid expansion, but also developed the primary weapon of WZ-10, the HJ-10
anti-tank missile. As a result of the success, the military sales of the company increased the original ¥
30 million in 2003 to ¥
20 billion in 2006. Many Chinese internet sources have claimed that although the great surge in the production of the optronics FCS & the primary weapon HJ-10 occurred in the first half of the first decade of the 21st century, the program actually had much longer time in existence, first in the form of research: research work in small increments had actually continued for decades, with origins dating back as early as early 1980s. The optronics FCS of WZ-10 is named as Airborne Stabilized Aiming System (机载稳瞄系统) by China.
There are a total of four known types of optronics FCS that have been publicized, and all of them shares similar components for most parts. The common components of all three types include color daytime TV camera, night vision camera, imaging infrared camera. The only difference between the four known optronics FCS is in their laser targeting system. The earliest sample is the cheapest, with a laser range finder for HJ-8
and similar wire-guided missile
s. A more advanced version appeared shortly after, with a laser range finding and targeting system for laser beam riding missiles such as HJ-9
. The latest version currently in service has a laser ranger / designator for semi-active laser guided missiles such as HJ-9
A and HJ-10
. The most recent system that is currently under development incorporates a laser ranging / targeting system that can perform all of the functions previously handled by separate system, and this latest developmental type is also the most expensive and most bulky one of all. During the 10th 5-yr plan, the 602nd Research Institute was tasked to develop a mast-mounting system for the optronics FCS, which was successfully completed in 2003 (test flew on Harbin Z-9
). The optronics FCS is fully compatible and can be slaved to the pilots’ HMS/HMD
, and the seekers of the missiles can also be slaved to the FCS.
, which was first shown at the 5th Zhuhai Airshow held at the end of 2004. The photos of HMS of WZ-10 begun to appear on the Chinese website in 2008, and more information followed. At the 7th Zhuhai Airshow held at the end of 2008, the developer confirmed that the HMS is not only fully integrated into the FCS, but also integrated to onboard navigational system as well. Although the navigational info can be displayed on the MFD, pilots can also fly WZ-10 on their own, without using the navigational system onboard. This is achieved by using night vision goggles (NVG), which the HMS is fully compatible. The HMS of WZ-10 can control both the air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, working in exactly the same way 613th Research Institute’s HMS for jet fighters (which was first shown to the public at the very 1st Zhuihai Airshow in 1996).
Additionally, helmet mounted display
s are also developed for WZ-10. Such HMD is similar to the Honeywell
M142 Integrated Helmet and Display Sighting System (IHADSS) used on AH-64 Apache
, with a small display screen mounted on the side of the helmet. It’s rumored that such HMD is LCD, but this cannot be confirmed, because the actual device has not been shown in public yet. The developer, however, did confirm that HMD is not standard because when this HMD is mounted, NVGs cannot be used, and similarly, when NVG is mounted, HMD cannot be used. It is also unclear whether NVG is standard or not, because all of the official photos of WZ-10 helmet released by the governmental sources do not shown NVGs attached, despite the developer’s claim of the helmet and HMS are fully compatible with NVGs. All of the publicized photos released by the official sources of the Chinese government have shown that the NVGs used WZ-10 (as well as other helicopters in Chinese service) are in the binocular form. As with the case of optronic FCS, NVGs of WZ-10 is developed based on experienced gained in manufacturing similar French and Israeli systems.
(MMW) fire-control radar
(FCR) is not standard for WZ-10, because the radar was not ready in time. The urgent need forced the early samples of WZ-10 to be evaluated without the planned radar, and it was only later did the radar become available. The MMW FCR for WZ-10 is developed by China Northern Electronic Co. (中国北方电子公司), a subsidiary of Norinco
. This MMW FCR is fully solid state and fully digitized, weighing 69.5 kg, less than half of similar former Soviet system. In comparison, both the Russian Arabelet / FH-101 MMW FCR used on Kamov Ka-50
N and the Ukrainian Khinzhal MMW FCR used on Mil Mi-28
N weight around 150 kg. In contrast to Russian system that uses two antennas, the Chinese MMW FCR adopts western approach of using a single antenna, similar to AN/APG-78 used for AH-64D Apach Longbow. The radar is designated as YH, short for Yu Huo (浴火), meaning bathing in fire. YH MMW FCR is fully integrated with other subsystems of the onboard electronic warfare
system, such as radar warning receiver
s (RWR), laser warning receivers (LWR), electronic support measures
(ESM), and electronic countermeasures
(ECM), with the entire EW system onboard WZ-10 named after the radar. Final radar deployment configuration has yet to be determined.
The canopy of the cockpit is specially treated to prevent glare from the sun, and, as an additional option, a tanned version is also available for camouflage purposes, though this is not standard. The bullet-proof glass of the canopy may be as thick as 38 millimeters, and is able to withstand direct hits from shrapnel and rounds fired from machine guns up to .50 caliber size.
VK-2500 turboshaft engine that powers Mil Mi-17
s sold to China is among the ones used, and so are the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
C-67C that powers civilian helicopters of western origin in Chinese service. Ukrainian Motor-Sich
TV3-117 that powers Mil Mi-28
has also successfully tested, and Ukrainians are helping Chinese to develop its own indigenous turboshaft engine. It’s rumored that European MTR390
that powers Eurocopter Tiger
has also been selected, but this cannot be confirmed. Due to the delay in the developing of Chinese domestic engines, all prototypes and pre-production series of WZ-10 are powered by foreign engines.
The future, long-term engines for the WZ-10 will be the domestic WZ-9 (WZ = Wo Zhou, 涡轴), designed by the 602nd Research Institute, with Ukrainian and Russian assistance. The previously erroneous claim of WZ-9 being a Chinese version of MTR390 proved to be false, because according to the publicized official Chinese governmental technical documents, VK-2500, TV3-117 and PT6 are all classified as third generation turboshaft engines, a category Wozhou-9 belongs to, while MTR390 is classified as a fourth generation turboshaft engine. Wozhou-9 is the least powerful engine out of the five tested for WZ-10, but enjoys the advantage of lowest operational cost because there is no foreign built component. Furthermore, since it is 100% built in China, there are no political issues that would affect the purchase of vital parts. Wozhou (WZ)-9 is scheduled to enter full operational service by the end of 2009. The transmission system was developed with the help of Agusta Westland.
Specifications for Wo Zhou - 9 (涡轴-9) turboshaft engine currently under development:
Another new engine is under development, it is developed by China and Turbomeca. It is called the WZ16 (涡轴16) turboshaft engine. Its power is 1500 KW, and will be planted in WZ10 and Z-15 /EC175.
With WZ-9 turboshafts, WZ10 can carry 16 HJ-10 missiles, but the payload is a bit heavy for WZ10. After new WZ16 engines are planted in WZ10, it can carry as much weapons as AH-64.
The auxiliary power unit
(APU) of WZ-10 is centered on a brand-new brushless DC electric motor
designed by Huafeng Avionics (华烽航空电器) Co, a subsidiary of GAIC
. The new electric motor is characterized by its low voltage, high power, high rpm, and stable current, and the entire development only took three months. In contrast to previous helicopter designs, the integrated APU also provides power to onboard avionics for WZ-10, where early designs had separately systems for starting the main engine and powering onboard avionics. Such system has never been used on Chinese helicopters before, and its adaptation on WZ-10 proved to be successful.
WZ-10 is not stealthy, but careful attentions have been given to reduce its electro-magnetic characteristics to reduce the probability of being detected. The planned procedure to reduce its radar cross section includes adopting radar absorbent paints. Another planned measure is to incorporate laser altimeter pioneered by Israel, which would reduce the probability of intercept by enemy’s electronic support measures in comparison to traditional radar altimeter, which emits radio/radar signals, while laser is far less prone to interception. Chinese have claimed that the avionics of WZ-10 is more advanced that of Russian attack helicopters, and the avionics suit enables WZ-10 to be able to conduct mission at a level that is just 10 meters above the ground.
, Mr. Li Meng (李萌) led the team to successfully develop the main rotor for WZ-10, winning two patents in the process. The main rotor blade, Type 95KT composite rotor blade was a top priority of the 8th 5-yr plan that first begun in that era, and it was one of the ten critical technologies of WZ-10. China never had such advanced technology and Mr. Li Meng had to lead his team to develop it on their own, and finished the job ahead of schedule. The early successful completion not only enabled WZ-10 to fly a full year ahead of the schedule, but Type 95KT blades have also been widely used afterward in new helicopters and upgrading old helicopters.
Type 95KT foamed composite blade requires many new manufacturing technique that previously did not exist in China, including: the soaking of the prefabricated material in special solutions under medium temperature, foaming of the carbon fiber and glass fiber composite material, solidification process of the foaming material, adding composite skin layers, and mathematical models for predicting the thermal expansion of the molds used for composite materials. Mr. Li Meng and his team made breakthroughs in all of these area and with the new techniques they developed, the production was greatly improved, with the energy cost reduced by 90%, production cycles shortened by more than five sixth, and molds needed reduced by five sixth also. China has claimed that these breakthroughs enabled Chinese productivity to reach its western counterparts. In addition to the composite material, there are four titanium alloy layers on the leading edge of every blade.
WZ10's successful main rotor and blades will be also manufactured for the EC175, so we can say that EC175 is WZ10 's transport version .
Based on the success of Harbin Z-9
and HC120, fenestron
configuration was originally adopted for the tail rotor. However, due to the inherit disadvantages of the design, such as higher power requirement, higher construction and maintenance cost, higher resistance and weight, fenestron design was dropped after test flights, and a more conventional tail rotor configuration was adopted. The 4-blade tail rotor utilizes the similar to the tail rotor of AH-64, with two pairs at unequal distance instead of 4 blades at the equal distance, and one of the main purposes of such arrangement was to reduce noise. The tail rotor blades are consisted of a total of 11 layers of glass-reinforced plastic
and composite material, enable them to sustain direct bullet hits.
being able to carry up to 4 missiles for a total of up to 16.
Three types of chain-fed autocannons are available for WZ-10, with the first being a 23 mm automatic chain gun indigenously developed by China. Like all other chain guns, this 23 mm gun covers a sector of 130 degrees. The largest caliber of chain gun carried by WZ-10 is a 30 mm automatic gun, a Chinese development of the Russian 2A72 autocannon
for aircraft use. One of the primary reasons to adopt the 2A72 30 mm gun for aerial use is its high reliability, and according to Russian claim, the failure rate of 2A72 is nearly zero. Another important reason for developing an aerial version of the 2A72 30 mm gun is to simplify logistics. Older 30 mm guns used on fighter jets such as Shenyang J-6
is not compatible with ground and naval guns of the same caliber, and using the same ammo for air, ground and naval guns with the same caliber would greatly reduce the operational cost.
The most powerful autocannon that can be mounted on the WZ-10 is the Chinese reverse-engineered 25 mm M242 Bushmaster
adopted for helicopter use. Originally mounted on the NVH-4 derivative of Type 85 AFV
, the Chinese military was thoroughly impressed with its performance and modified the gun for aerial use. According to Chinese claims, the 25 mm M242 Bushmaster
is the most accurate among all three autocannons of its kind in use with the Chinese military, in both ground and aerial formats. Furthermore, it is also said to be the most lethal of all, having the greatest penetrating power against armored vehicles. However, this gun is the most complex and thus the most costly, while being the least reliable type of chain-fed gun in use with the military. The relatively low reliability of the 25 mm autocannon also has prevented the ground version form being widely adopted.
Guns for WZ-10 can also be mounted in the turret form, but this is limited to small caliber machine guns. The largest type of machine gun that may be fitted to the WZ-10 turret is a single 14.5 mm gatling gun
, while the smaller caliber 12.7 mm or 7.62 mm machine guns may be mounted either in single barrel or twin barrel forms. When armed with these smaller caliber machine guns, the coverage is increased to 180 degrees as opposed to the 130 degrees of larger caliber autocannon
s.
The turret is flexible enough to incorporate configurations such as a single barrel machine gun and an automatic grenade launcher with calibers ranging from 30 mm to 40 mm, as in the AH-1 Cobra
. Grenade launchers are only effective against ground targets, while machine guns may be effectively used on both ground and air targets.
, HJ-9
and HJ-10
anti-tank missiles. The HJ-10
is thought to be similar to AGM-114 Hellfire
and it has an anti-helicopter capability in addition to anti-tank capability. July 2011, Xinhua News Agency released a photo of Z-9WA firing ADK10 air-to-ground missile. ADK10 is reported to be the official name of HJ10 missile.
The main air-to-air missile
deployed by WZ-10 is TY-90
, a missile specifically designed for use by helicopters in aerial combat. TY-90
is claimed to have greater lethality than the MANPAD missiles usually carried by helicopters. The Chinese FN-6
and QW series
missiles can also be deployed, as with other non-Chinese MANPADs. TY-90 and MANPADs are often carried in pairs, with a total of 4 carried. When using larger air-to-air missiles such as PL-9 or similar missiles such as AIM-9 Sidewinder
, the total number is reduced to 2.
WZ-10 can be armed with a wide variety of unguided rockets ranging from 20 mm to 130 mm caliber. The largest rockets tested were a type of 130 mm rocket that were carried on the hardpoints just as missiles are carried, while smaller caliber rockets were mounted in conventional rocket pods. The most frequently used rockets are those ranging from 57 mm to 90 mm and a total of 4 pods can be carried under the stub wings, one under each hardpoint
.
Attack helicopter
An attack helicopter is a military helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the capability of engaging targets on the ground, such as enemy infantry and armored vehicles...
developed by the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. It is designed primarily for anti-tank missions but is believed to have a secondary air-to-air capability as well. It is being built by Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation is a Chinese helicopter manufacturer and supplier to the People's Liberation Army of China. The company is based in the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. Changhe employs 4300 employees in two production facilities with 1.29 million sq. metres and 0.22...
(CAIC).
Early exploration
In 1979, the Chinese military studied the problem of countering large armour formations. It concluded that the best conventionalConventional warfare
Conventional warfare is a form of warfare conducted byusing conventional military weapons and battlefield tactics between two or more states in open confrontation. The forces on each side are well-defined, and fight using weapons that primarily target the opposing army...
solution were attack helicopter
Attack helicopter
An attack helicopter is a military helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the capability of engaging targets on the ground, such as enemy infantry and armored vehicles...
s. Eight Aérospatiale Gazelle
Aérospatiale Gazelle
The Aérospatiale Gazelle is a five-seat light helicopter, powered by a single turbine engine. It was designed and manufactured in France by Sud Aviation . It was also manufactured under licence by Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom , by SOKO in Yugoslavia and ABHCO in Egypt...
armed with Euromissile HOT
Euromissile HOT
The HOT is a second-generation long-range anti-tank missile system developed originally as an effort to meet a joint German-French Army requirement, by the then German firm Bolkow and the French firm Nord, to replace the older SS.11 wire guided...
were procured for evaluation.
By the mid-1980s, the Chinese decided a dedicated attack helicopter was required. At the time, they used civilian helicopters converted for the military; these were no longer adequate in the attack role, and suitable only as scouts. Following this, China evaluated the Agusta A129 Mangusta, and in 1988 secured an agreement with the USA to purchase AH-1 Cobra
AH-1 Cobra
The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a two-bladed, single engine attack helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It shares a common engine, transmission and rotor system with the older UH-1 Iroquois...
s and a license to produce BGM-71 TOW
BGM-71 TOW
The BGM-71 TOW is an anti-tank missile. "BGM" is a weapon classification that stands for "Multiple Environment , Surface-Attack , Missile ". "TOW" is an acronym that stands for "Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire command data link, guided missile"...
missiles; the latter was cancelled following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
and the resulting arms embargo. The colour revolutions prevented the purchase of attack helicopters from Eastern Europe in 1990 and 1991; Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
rejected Chinese offers to purchase the Mil Mi-24
Mil Mi-24
The Mil Mi-24 is a large helicopter gunship and attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for 8 passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and operated since 1972 by the Soviet Air Force, its successors, and by over thirty other nations.In NATO circles the export...
.
While attempted to import foreign designs failed, war games determined that attack helicopters had to be commanded by the army, rather than the air force. This led to the formation of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force
People's Liberation Army Ground Force
The People's Liberation Army Ground Force is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army. Its regular forces consist of 1.7 million personnel, with an additional 800,000 personnel in reserve, making it the largest active standing army in the world, and second largest in terms of...
Air Force (PLAGFAF), with an initial strength of 9 Harbin Z-9
Harbin Z-9
|-See also:-External links:* * *...
. The PLAGFAF conducted tactical experiments that would help define the future WZ-10's requirements. Research also decided that anti-tank missiles like the BGM-71 TOW were inadequate, and favoured an analogue to the AGM-114 Hellfire
AGM-114 Hellfire
The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-surface missile developed primarily for anti-armor use. It has multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike capability, and can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100 lb-class air-to-ground precision...
. These findings ensured the WZ-10 would be based around the new missile.
Medium helicopter program
The Gulf WarGulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
highlighted the urgent need for attack helicopters, and revalidated the assessment that a purpose-built design was needed. (At the time, the Chinese military depended on armed utility helicopters such as the Changhe Z-11 and Harbin Z-9
Harbin Z-9
|-See also:-External links:* * *...
.) Also, it demonstrated that the new attack helicopter would need to be able to defend itself against other helicopters and aircraft. The military perceived that once the new attack helicopter entered service, the existing helicopters would be used as scouts.
To fill the gap in the short term, the Chinese attempted to procure a license to manufacture Mil Mi-28
Mil Mi-28
The Mil Mi-28 is a Russian all-weather day-night military tandem two-seat anti-armour attack helicopter. It is a dedicated attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, better optimized than the Mil Mi-24 for the role...
s; the deal fell apart in 1994.
This left the indigenous program. In 1990, or 1991, the Armed Helicopter Developmental Work Team (武装直升机开发工作小组) was formed to develop a new medium helicopter design, as opposed to basing the new design on the light helicopters then in service. The 602nd and 608th Research Institutes started development of the 6-ton class China Medium Helicopter (CHM) program in 1994. The program was promoted as a civilian project, and was able to secure significant Western technical assistance, such as from Eurocopter (rotor installation design consultancy), Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
Canada (PT6C turboshaft engine) and Agusta Westland (transmission). The Chinese concentrated on areas where it could not obtain foreign help.
Attack helicopter program
In 1998, the 602nd Research Institute proposed to either separate the armed helicopter program from the medium helicopter program, or devote all resources to the armed helicopter program. The 602nd Research Institute's called its proposed armed helicopter design the WZ-10 (Wu Zhi (武直)-10), with some sources outside of China calling it the Z-X armed helicopter. As a result, most of the resource went to the WZ-10, although the medium helicopter program continued with reduced priority; the medium helicopter could continue to develop technology used by both military and civilian aircraft.The WZ-10 program was called the Special Armed Project (专武工程), a short form for Special Use Armed Helicopter Project (专用武装直升机工程). Development was kept under stricter secrecy than the Chengdu J-10
Chengdu J-10
The Chengdu J-10 is a multirole fighter aircraft designed and produced by the People's Republic of China's Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force...
fighter. Nearly ¥
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
4 billion was initially invested and the WZ-1- became one of the most important programs begun in the 9th 5-yr plan.
The 602nd Research Institute was assigned as the chief designer, while Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation , often shortened to Hafei, is an aircraft manufacturing company located in Harbin, the capital of the Heilongjiang Province of the People's Republic of China....
(HAMC) of China Aviation Industry Corporation II
China Aviation Industry Corporation II
China Aviation Industry Corporation II was a Chinese consortium of aircraft manufacturers. The consortium was created on July 1, 1999 by splitting the state-owned consortium China Aviation Industry Corporation into AVIC I and AVIC II...
(AVIC II) was assigned as the primary manufacturer. Nearly four dozen other establishments participated in the program. In the summer of 1999, AVIC II
China Aviation Industry Corporation II
China Aviation Industry Corporation II was a Chinese consortium of aircraft manufacturers. The consortium was created on July 1, 1999 by splitting the state-owned consortium China Aviation Industry Corporation into AVIC I and AVIC II...
began to use a CAMC Z-8 to test newly developed WZ-10 sub-systems. In autumn of the same year, a Harbin Z-9
Harbin Z-9
|-See also:-External links:* * *...
was added to the test aircraft inventory. These tests concentrated on sub-systems such as the fire-control systems, HOTAS controls
HOTAS
HOTAS, an abbreviation for Hands On Throttle-And-Stick, is the name given to the concept of placing buttons and switches on the throttle stick and flight control stick in an aircraft's cockpit, allowing the pilot to access vital cockpit functions and fly the aircraft without having to remove his...
and navigation systems.
South Africa provided limited help in the area of flight stability based on experience from designing the Denel AH-2 Rooivalk. South Africans assistence ceased in 2001.
New manufacturer
In 2000, the Chinese again attempted to obtain a Russian attack helicopter, but the deal for the Kamov Ka-50Kamov Ka-50
The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" is a single-seat Russian attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design bureau. It was designed in the 1980s and adopted for service in the Russian army in 1995...
fell apart just as the Mil Mi-28
Mil Mi-28
The Mil Mi-28 is a Russian all-weather day-night military tandem two-seat anti-armour attack helicopter. It is a dedicated attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, better optimized than the Mil Mi-24 for the role...
deal several years earlier. The repeated failures in obtaining foreign attack helicopters reinforced feelings that China had no choice but to ignore foreign options and develop its own such aircraft and work on the WZ-10 accelerated. In the same year, HAMC
Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation
Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation , often shortened to Hafei, is an aircraft manufacturing company located in Harbin, the capital of the Heilongjiang Province of the People's Republic of China....
transferred most of its production responsibilities to CAIC
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation is a Chinese helicopter manufacturer and supplier to the People's Liberation Army of China. The company is based in the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. Changhe employs 4300 employees in two production facilities with 1.29 million sq. metres and 0.22...
of AVIC II
China Aviation Industry Corporation II
China Aviation Industry Corporation II was a Chinese consortium of aircraft manufacturers. The consortium was created on July 1, 1999 by splitting the state-owned consortium China Aviation Industry Corporation into AVIC I and AVIC II...
. The official reason given was excessive workload; HAMC was busy producing the HC120 and Harbin Z-9
Harbin Z-9
|-See also:-External links:* * *...
, as well as other fixed-wing aircraft such as the Harbin Y-12
Harbin Y-12
-See also:-Bibliography:* Taylor, John W R. . Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89. Coulsdon, Surrey, UK: Jane's Information Group, 1988. ISBN 07106-0867-5....
, and thus was stretched to the limit. However, many speculated that HAMC was not performing well enough due to rigid and ineffective Soviet-style management practices, believed to have caused the company to go into debt.
Although HAMC was in the process of reform, which finally succeeded, the government and military were weary and impatient. The SH-5 factory had become very profitable after its successful restructuring and reform, but it had to get out of the aircraft manufacturing business for good, manufacturing pressurized tanks and other specialized containers. It was decided that the WZ-10 program was too important to be run by HAMC, so a more stable contractor was sought and CAIC
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation is a Chinese helicopter manufacturer and supplier to the People's Liberation Army of China. The company is based in the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. Changhe employs 4300 employees in two production facilities with 1.29 million sq. metres and 0.22...
was selected. HAMC still retained responsibility for production of certain sub-systems and components, for which it could utilize experience gained from manufacturing parts for foreign helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft such as the Embraer ERJ 145 family
Embraer ERJ 145 family
The Embraer ERJ 145 family is a series of regional jets produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. Family members include the ERJ 135 , ERJ 140 , and ERJ 145 , as well as the Legacy business jet and the R-99 family of military aircraft. The ERJ 145 is the largest of the group...
.
In May 2002, the WZ-10 tail rotor and some other components were tested on the ground by the 602nd Research Institute. In April 2003, a WZ-10 prototype completed its maiden flight at Lumeng (吕蒙) airfield, the airfield having been assigned to CAIC
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation is a Chinese helicopter manufacturer and supplier to the People's Liberation Army of China. The company is based in the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. Changhe employs 4300 employees in two production facilities with 1.29 million sq. metres and 0.22...
for such use. According to Chinese sources, the initial test flights were concluded on December 17, 2003, whereas according to other sources they were completed nine month earlier in March 2003. According to Jane's Information Group
Jane's Information Group
Jane's Information Group is a publishing company specializing in transportation and military topics.-History:It was founded by Fred T...
, a total of 3 prototypes had completed over 400 hours of test flights by this time. By 2004 3 more prototypes were built, for a total of 6, and a second stage of test flights were concluded on December 15, 2004. In one of the test flights the future commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force
People's Liberation Army Ground Force
The People's Liberation Army Ground Force is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army. Its regular forces consist of 1.7 million personnel, with an additional 800,000 personnel in reserve, making it the largest active standing army in the world, and second largest in terms of...
Air Force (PLAGAF), Song Xiangsheng (宋湘生), was on board the prototype. A third stage of intensive test flights followed, taking place during both day and night. By January 2006 weaponry and sensor tests, including firing of live ammunition, were taking place.
Prototypes and a small number of pre-production aircraft are in service with the Chinese military for evaluation. The design is undergoing continuous minor modification and upgrade based on the feedback.
Design
The chief designer of WZ-10 is Mr. Wu Ximing (吴希明) of the 602nd Research Institute, one of the many top Chinese scientists play important roles in the 863 Program863 Program
The 863 program or State High-Tech Development Plan is a program funded and administered by the government of the People's Republic of China intended to stimulate the development of advanced technologies in a wide range of fields for the purpose of rendering China independent of financial...
. Mr. Wu had participated in the designs of the armed version of transport helicopters Z-8A and WZ-9
Harbin Z-9
|-See also:-External links:* * *...
, and as the chief designer and project manager of WZ-10, he completed 5 years of work in just 2 years. WZ-10 is the first Chinese helicopter that eventually achieved paperless de
sign, and the all electronic / online design enabled the design work to be completed within a year. In order to complete the necessary development, the 602nd Research Institute and CAIC
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation is a Chinese helicopter manufacturer and supplier to the People's Liberation Army of China. The company is based in the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. Changhe employs 4300 employees in two production facilities with 1.29 million sq. metres and 0.22...
had jointly built brand-new engineering design center, industrial simulator, aircraft engine ground test center, fatigue laboratory, and full-scale rotary test platform (nicknamed as Iron Bird Platform, 铁鸟台). With the exception of the engineering design center, all of the rest facilities are claimed to be the largest of their kinds in Asia.
The new facilities had helped China to overcome many difficulties it faced in the development and since the end of 2001, the longest test was completed on the full-scale rotary test platform, paving the way for the future test flights. Composite material is widely used in the WZ-10 but China faced difficulties in this field, particularly in the area of survivability during crashes. Huge efforts were spent to domestically develop composite materials able to provide comparable levels of survivability to Western counterparts. This achievement earned a 2nd place in the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) progress reward.
Avionics (aircraft related)
The main contractor of the avionics of WZ-10 is the 613th Research Institute, which was responsible of integrating all of the avionics subsystems provided by subcontractors. Although foreign technologies are utilized (particularly French and Israeli, as rumored), this is limited to hardware only. All software applicable to WZ-10 are completely indigenously developed by China on its own. Reportedly, the most time consuming part of the software engineering for WZ-10 was to develop all of the mathematic models needed for WZ-10. Instead of using French standard DIGIBUS, WZ-10 is built to Chinese GJV289A standard, the Chinese equivalent of MIL-STD-1553MIL-STD-1553
MIL-STD-1553 is a military standard published by the United States Department of Defense that defines the mechanical, electrical, and functional characteristics of a serial data bus. It was originally designed for use with military avionics, but has also become commonly used in spacecraft on-board...
B. The adaptation of western military standard means that western weaponry can be readily deployed on WZ-10, and the developer claims that all it needed was to add a module or interface to accomplish this. The ease of being compatible with multiple weaponry would also help to expand the export market of WZ-10 in the future.
Flight instrumentation
There are two configurations of the flight instrumentation for WZ-10, one developed from similar foreign system (rumored to be French), and the other one is indigenously developed, and both configurations share the same holographic head-up displayHead-Up Display
A head-up display or heads-up display is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints...
. The difference in layout between the two configurations is that in one configuration, there are three color LCD
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
multi-function display
Multi-function display
A Multi-function display is a small screen in an aircraft surrounded by multiple buttons that can be used to display information to the pilot in numerous configurable ways. Often an MFD will be used in concert with a Primary Flight Display. MFDs are part of the digital era of modern planes or...
s (MFD), while the other, these are replaced by two larger LCD MFDs. It’s not clear which one is originated from foreign system and which is indigenously developed, but it’s reported that the practice of having different configurations thanks to the modular design is for export purposes, to fit the potential customer countries’ pilots’ habits. However, there is a rumor that China initially lacked the faith in its domestic system during the early stage of the development of WZ-10, due to the backward Chinese industrial capability at the time, so a backup was developed in parallel as a precaution, and the help to potential export resulted later was just a coincidence. A small number of mechanical dial indicators are also retained as a backup in case the MFDs have failed.
WZ-10 is also the very first indigenous Chinese helicopter that adopts HOTAS
HOTAS
HOTAS, an abbreviation for Hands On Throttle-And-Stick, is the name given to the concept of placing buttons and switches on the throttle stick and flight control stick in an aircraft's cockpit, allowing the pilot to access vital cockpit functions and fly the aircraft without having to remove his...
, but a traditional conventional control system had been developed in parallel as a backup, just as the case of cockpit MFDs, and for exactly the same reason why two configurations of flight instrumentation were developed in parallel. The erroneous claim of installing Russian K-36/37 ejection seat in the cockpit of WZ-10 proved to be false, and the survival of pilots in emergencies landing depends on the crashworthiness of helicopter. To counter balance the weight of the armor protecting the pilots, flight instrumentation panel is the place where composite material is mostly used, as in the case of the dashboard of automobiles, where plastic material concentrates. One of the greatest challenges was to find the right composite material that is fit to use, while at the same time, also meets the safety standard so that during a fire, the pilots would not be knocked out by the toxic fume released by the burning composite material.
Navigation
Unlike previous Chinese helicopters which had different navigational systems onboard independently, the navigational systems of WZ-10 are fully integrated, and these includes a laser gyro, which will be replaced in the future by an optical fiber gyro currently under development, one becoming available. A radar altimeter currently installed on WZ-10 is full interchangeable with laser altimeter. Early units of WZ-10 has a pulse Doppler navigational radar which only had weather and navigational capabilities, and a more advanced (and thus more costly) model has been developed, incorporating ground mapping, terrain-avoidance and terrain following capabilities.The onboard inertial navigation system
Inertial navigation system
An inertial navigation system is a navigation aid that uses a computer, motion sensors and rotation sensors to continuously calculate via dead reckoning the position, orientation, and velocity of a moving object without the need for external references...
(INS) is fully integrated with GPS/GLONASS
GLONASS
GLONASS , acronym for Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces...
system, and provisions are made for future upgrades to include Galileo (satellite navigation)/Beidou navigation system
Beidou navigation system
The BeiDou Navigation System or BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is a project by China to develop an independent satellite navigation system...
when expanded capabilities of these systems become available. For potential export customers, it can selection any satellite navigation systems of its choice, though GPS is usually the norm. In addition, despite developer’s claim of the navigational system of WZ-10 can utilize a variety of satellite navigation to improve its accuracy, the integrated GPS corrected INS is the only system that has been shown to the public at Zhuhai Airshows and other defense exhibitions. A modified Blue Sky navigation pod
Blue Sky navigation pod
The Blue Sky navigation pod is an airborne navigation / targeting pod designed to provide aircraft with all weather / night attack capabilities. It was first revealed to the public at 1998 Zhuhai Air Show, and it is designed by CLETRI, or more commonly known as the 607th Institute...
can also carried by WZ-10. Information is shared via secured data-link that provide real time and near real time information.
Electronic warfare
The electronic warfare (EW)Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...
system of WZ-10 is the first Chinese EW system that integrates the radar, radar warning receivers (RWR)
Radar warning receiver
Radar warning receiver systems detect the radio emissions of radar systems. Their primary purpose is to issue a warning when a radar signal that might be a threat is detected. The warning can then be used, manually or automatically, to evade the detected threat...
, laser warning receivers (LWR), electronic support measures (ESM)
Electronic warfare support measures
In military telecommunications, the terms Electronic Support or Electronic Support Measures describe the division of electronic warfare involving actions taken under direct control of an operational commander to detect, intercept, identify, locate, record, and/or analyze sources of radiated...
and electronic counter-measures (ECM) together. The system is designated YH-96 (YH = Yu Huo, 浴火), named after the YH radar. YH-96 is claimed to have a high interception rate of hostile signals, and in the fully automatic mode, it can automatically analyze the threat and launch different decoys and jamming signals accordingly. Alternatively, pilots can choose to launch decoys or jamming enemy sensors themselves.
Like the modified Blue Sky navigation pod
Blue Sky navigation pod
The Blue Sky navigation pod is an airborne navigation / targeting pod designed to provide aircraft with all weather / night attack capabilities. It was first revealed to the public at 1998 Zhuhai Air Show, and it is designed by CLETRI, or more commonly known as the 607th Institute...
, a modified BM/KG300G
BM/KG300G
The BM/KG300G self protection jamming pod is an airborne ECM pod that was first revealed to the public at 1998 Zhuhai Air Show, China, and it is designed by Southwest Institute of Electronic Equipment at Chengdu....
self protection jamming pod can also be carried, usually on one of the hard points of the stub wings. Similarly, a modified KZ900
KZ900
The KZ900 reconnaissance pod is an airborne SIGINT pod, used by the Chinese Military, that was first revealed to the public at 1998 Zhuhai Air Show, and it is designed by Southwestern Institute of Electrical and Electronics at Chengdu....
reconnaissance pod can be carried for reconnaissance missions, although all of these additions come at the cost of reducing the number of hardpoints available for carrying weaponry. Usually, only one of such pod is carried at any one time. The identification friend or foe (IFF)
Identification friend or foe
In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe is an identification system designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military and national interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles, or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the...
system of WZ-10 is specially designed to work in an environment of heavy enemy jamming. All internally mounted jamming and decoy launching systems are built with the concept of modular design, so that they can be readily replaced when newer technologies become available.
Electro-optics
One of the two primary fire control system (FCS) is the electro-opticalElectro-optics
Electro-optics is a branch of technology involving components, devices and systems which operate by modification of the optical properties of a material by an electric field...
(optronics) system, which utilizes experience gained from earlier manufacturing of similar French and Israeli systems, combining the best of two, but only hardware wise. The software is completely indigenously developed by China on its own. The optronics FCS is manufactured by the 218th Factory of China North Industries Group Corp (中国兵器工业集团公司), a small and relatively unknown factory which was hidden in the busy commercial and residential area for more than four decades in the Chongwen Precinct
Chongwen District
Chongwen is a former district of the Municipality of Beijing, located relatively southeast to the city center , and was situated between Yongdingmen and Qianmen. It spanned an area of 16.46 square kilometers. It bordered Dongcheng District to the north, Fengtai District to the south, Chaoyang to...
of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, until its relocation in the beginning of the 21st century. In the first decade of the 21st century, the 218th Factory would first expanded to form Beijing China Optical Instruments Ltd. (北京华北光学仪器有限公司), and later further expanded to China North Industries Group Corporation Elctro-Opticals Science & Technology Ltd. (中兵光电科技股份有限公司.) The chief designer was Dr. Li Baoping (李保平), who were transferred from the 203rd Research Institute in Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
in 2001 to become the deputy bureau chief of the Electro-Optical Bureau of the China North Industries Group Corp, and at the same time, the project manager of optronics FCS of WZ-10. The next year, Dr. Li was named as the chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the 218th Factory in addition, and under his leadership, the company not only developed the optronics FCS of WZ-10 during its rapid expansion, but also developed the primary weapon of WZ-10, the HJ-10
HJ-10
HJ-10 is a series of indigenously developed and highly classified Chinese anti-helicopter / anti-tank missiles, they are the primary weapon of the CAIC WZ-10 attack helicopter...
anti-tank missile. As a result of the success, the military sales of the company increased the original ¥
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
30 million in 2003 to ¥
Renminbi
The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China . Renminbi is legal tender in mainland China, but not in Hong Kong or Macau. It is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC...
20 billion in 2006. Many Chinese internet sources have claimed that although the great surge in the production of the optronics FCS & the primary weapon HJ-10 occurred in the first half of the first decade of the 21st century, the program actually had much longer time in existence, first in the form of research: research work in small increments had actually continued for decades, with origins dating back as early as early 1980s. The optronics FCS of WZ-10 is named as Airborne Stabilized Aiming System (机载稳瞄系统) by China.
There are a total of four known types of optronics FCS that have been publicized, and all of them shares similar components for most parts. The common components of all three types include color daytime TV camera, night vision camera, imaging infrared camera. The only difference between the four known optronics FCS is in their laser targeting system. The earliest sample is the cheapest, with a laser range finder for HJ-8
HJ-8
The HJ-8 or Hongjian-8 is a second generation tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missile system which was originally deployed by the People's Liberation Army since the late 1980s. Pakistan produces this missile system under licence as the Baktar-Shikan at Kahuta Research...
and similar wire-guided missile
Wire-guided missile
A wire-guided missile is a missile that is guided by signals sent to it via thin wires connected between the missile and its guidance mechanism, which is located somewhere near the launch site. As the missile flies, the wires are reeled out behind it...
s. A more advanced version appeared shortly after, with a laser range finding and targeting system for laser beam riding missiles such as HJ-9
HJ-9
The Hong Jian-9 is an advanced, third-generation anti-tank missile system deployed by the People's Liberation Army.The missile was developed by Norinco, and one of the chief designers was Yang Chunming . It is similar in appearance to the Israeli MAPATS , causing speculation about the link between...
. The latest version currently in service has a laser ranger / designator for semi-active laser guided missiles such as HJ-9
HJ-9
The Hong Jian-9 is an advanced, third-generation anti-tank missile system deployed by the People's Liberation Army.The missile was developed by Norinco, and one of the chief designers was Yang Chunming . It is similar in appearance to the Israeli MAPATS , causing speculation about the link between...
A and HJ-10
HJ-10
HJ-10 is a series of indigenously developed and highly classified Chinese anti-helicopter / anti-tank missiles, they are the primary weapon of the CAIC WZ-10 attack helicopter...
. The most recent system that is currently under development incorporates a laser ranging / targeting system that can perform all of the functions previously handled by separate system, and this latest developmental type is also the most expensive and most bulky one of all. During the 10th 5-yr plan, the 602nd Research Institute was tasked to develop a mast-mounting system for the optronics FCS, which was successfully completed in 2003 (test flew on Harbin Z-9
Harbin Z-9
|-See also:-External links:* * *...
). The optronics FCS is fully compatible and can be slaved to the pilots’ HMS/HMD
Helmet mounted display
A helmet mounted display is a device used in some modern aircraft, especially combat aircraft. HMDs project information similar to that of head-up displays on an aircrew’s visor or reticle, thereby allowing him to obtain situational awareness and/or cue weapons systems to the direction his head...
, and the seekers of the missiles can also be slaved to the FCS.
Helmet mounted targeting and night vision
In addition to the millimeter wave fire control radar and optronic FCS, pilots of WZ-10 has another FCS, the helmet mounted sight (HMS) designed by the 613th Research Institute. The HMS is standard for WZ-10, and it is fully integrated into the overall FCS. The HMS of WZ-10 is based on the earlier HMS used on WZ-9Harbin Z-9
|-See also:-External links:* * *...
, which was first shown at the 5th Zhuhai Airshow held at the end of 2004. The photos of HMS of WZ-10 begun to appear on the Chinese website in 2008, and more information followed. At the 7th Zhuhai Airshow held at the end of 2008, the developer confirmed that the HMS is not only fully integrated into the FCS, but also integrated to onboard navigational system as well. Although the navigational info can be displayed on the MFD, pilots can also fly WZ-10 on their own, without using the navigational system onboard. This is achieved by using night vision goggles (NVG), which the HMS is fully compatible. The HMS of WZ-10 can control both the air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, working in exactly the same way 613th Research Institute’s HMS for jet fighters (which was first shown to the public at the very 1st Zhuihai Airshow in 1996).
Additionally, helmet mounted display
Helmet mounted display
A helmet mounted display is a device used in some modern aircraft, especially combat aircraft. HMDs project information similar to that of head-up displays on an aircrew’s visor or reticle, thereby allowing him to obtain situational awareness and/or cue weapons systems to the direction his head...
s are also developed for WZ-10. Such HMD is similar to the Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
M142 Integrated Helmet and Display Sighting System (IHADSS) used on AH-64 Apache
AH-64 Apache
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement, and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. The Apache was developed as Model 77 by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the...
, with a small display screen mounted on the side of the helmet. It’s rumored that such HMD is LCD, but this cannot be confirmed, because the actual device has not been shown in public yet. The developer, however, did confirm that HMD is not standard because when this HMD is mounted, NVGs cannot be used, and similarly, when NVG is mounted, HMD cannot be used. It is also unclear whether NVG is standard or not, because all of the official photos of WZ-10 helmet released by the governmental sources do not shown NVGs attached, despite the developer’s claim of the helmet and HMS are fully compatible with NVGs. All of the publicized photos released by the official sources of the Chinese government have shown that the NVGs used WZ-10 (as well as other helicopters in Chinese service) are in the binocular form. As with the case of optronic FCS, NVGs of WZ-10 is developed based on experienced gained in manufacturing similar French and Israeli systems.
Radar
Despite the original plan, the millimeter waveExtremely high frequency
Extremely high frequency is the highest radio frequency band. EHF runs the range of frequencies from 30 to 300 gigahertz, above which electromagnetic radiation is considered to be low infrared light, also referred to as terahertz radiation...
(MMW) fire-control radar
Fire-control radar
A fire-control radar is a radar which is designed specifically to provide information to a fire-control system in order to calculate a firing solution...
(FCR) is not standard for WZ-10, because the radar was not ready in time. The urgent need forced the early samples of WZ-10 to be evaluated without the planned radar, and it was only later did the radar become available. The MMW FCR for WZ-10 is developed by China Northern Electronic Co. (中国北方电子公司), a subsidiary of Norinco
Norinco
The China North Industries Corporation , official English name Norinco, manufactures vehicles , machinery, optical-electronic products, oil field equipment, chemicals, light industrial products, explosives and blast materials, civil and military firearms and ammunition, etc...
. This MMW FCR is fully solid state and fully digitized, weighing 69.5 kg, less than half of similar former Soviet system. In comparison, both the Russian Arabelet / FH-101 MMW FCR used on Kamov Ka-50
Kamov Ka-50
The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" is a single-seat Russian attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design bureau. It was designed in the 1980s and adopted for service in the Russian army in 1995...
N and the Ukrainian Khinzhal MMW FCR used on Mil Mi-28
Mil Mi-28
The Mil Mi-28 is a Russian all-weather day-night military tandem two-seat anti-armour attack helicopter. It is a dedicated attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, better optimized than the Mil Mi-24 for the role...
N weight around 150 kg. In contrast to Russian system that uses two antennas, the Chinese MMW FCR adopts western approach of using a single antenna, similar to AN/APG-78 used for AH-64D Apach Longbow. The radar is designated as YH, short for Yu Huo (浴火), meaning bathing in fire. YH MMW FCR is fully integrated with other subsystems of the onboard electronic warfare
Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare refers to any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults via the spectrum. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponent the advantage of, and ensure friendly...
system, such as radar warning receiver
Radar warning receiver
Radar warning receiver systems detect the radio emissions of radar systems. Their primary purpose is to issue a warning when a radar signal that might be a threat is detected. The warning can then be used, manually or automatically, to evade the detected threat...
s (RWR), laser warning receivers (LWR), electronic support measures
Electronic warfare support measures
In military telecommunications, the terms Electronic Support or Electronic Support Measures describe the division of electronic warfare involving actions taken under direct control of an operational commander to detect, intercept, identify, locate, record, and/or analyze sources of radiated...
(ESM), and electronic countermeasures
Electronic countermeasures
An electronic countermeasure is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar or other detection systems, like infrared or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy...
(ECM), with the entire EW system onboard WZ-10 named after the radar. Final radar deployment configuration has yet to be determined.
Cockpit
The stepped tandem cockpit houses two aviators - the gunner in front and the pilot in the back - as in the conventional layout of most attack helicopters. The flight control of both aviators serves to back each other up, and the pilot, who is also the team leader of the aircrew, may override the gunner’s commands. The bottom and sides of the cockpit are protected by composite armor, and so are the engines and the fuel tank located in the middle of the fuselage.The canopy of the cockpit is specially treated to prevent glare from the sun, and, as an additional option, a tanned version is also available for camouflage purposes, though this is not standard. The bullet-proof glass of the canopy may be as thick as 38 millimeters, and is able to withstand direct hits from shrapnel and rounds fired from machine guns up to .50 caliber size.
Powerplant and auxiliary power unit
The modular design of WZ-10 enables it to adopt a number of turboshaft engines. However, the multiple choices of engines have much more to do with the inability of Chinese industry to provide the necessary power plants for WZ-10 in time than the success of modular design concept. At least three type of turboshaft engines have been successfully tested for WZ-10, all of them foreign built. Russian KlimovKlimov
The Kirill Klimov Experimental Design Bureau under the direction of Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov designed engines for Soviet aircraft. The OKB was formed in the early 1930s to produce and improve upon the liquid-cooled Hispano-Suiza 12Y V-12 piston engine for which the USSR had acquired a license...
VK-2500 turboshaft engine that powers Mil Mi-17
Mil Mi-17
The Mil Mi-17 is a Russian helicopter currently in production at two factories in Kazan and Ulan-Ude...
s sold to China is among the ones used, and so are the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is one of the most popular turboprop aircraft engines in history, and is produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. The PT6 family is particularly well known for its extremely high reliability, with MTBO's on the order of 9000 hours in some models. In US military use, they...
C-67C that powers civilian helicopters of western origin in Chinese service. Ukrainian Motor-Sich
Motor-Sich
The Motor Sich Public Joint Stock Company in Zaporizhia is among the largest engine manufactures for airplanes and helicopters worldwide. It also is the only enterprise in Ukraine manufacturing engines for airplanes and helicopters as well as industrial gas turbine installations...
TV3-117 that powers Mil Mi-28
Mil Mi-28
The Mil Mi-28 is a Russian all-weather day-night military tandem two-seat anti-armour attack helicopter. It is a dedicated attack helicopter with no intended secondary transport capability, better optimized than the Mil Mi-24 for the role...
has also successfully tested, and Ukrainians are helping Chinese to develop its own indigenous turboshaft engine. It’s rumored that European MTR390
MTR390
-External links:* * * * *...
that powers Eurocopter Tiger
Eurocopter Tiger
The Eurocopter Tiger is an attack helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter. In Germany it is known as the Tiger; in France and Spain it is called the Tigre.-Origins:...
has also been selected, but this cannot be confirmed. Due to the delay in the developing of Chinese domestic engines, all prototypes and pre-production series of WZ-10 are powered by foreign engines.
The future, long-term engines for the WZ-10 will be the domestic WZ-9 (WZ = Wo Zhou, 涡轴), designed by the 602nd Research Institute, with Ukrainian and Russian assistance. The previously erroneous claim of WZ-9 being a Chinese version of MTR390 proved to be false, because according to the publicized official Chinese governmental technical documents, VK-2500, TV3-117 and PT6 are all classified as third generation turboshaft engines, a category Wozhou-9 belongs to, while MTR390 is classified as a fourth generation turboshaft engine. Wozhou-9 is the least powerful engine out of the five tested for WZ-10, but enjoys the advantage of lowest operational cost because there is no foreign built component. Furthermore, since it is 100% built in China, there are no political issues that would affect the purchase of vital parts. Wozhou (WZ)-9 is scheduled to enter full operational service by the end of 2009. The transmission system was developed with the help of Agusta Westland.
Specifications for Wo Zhou - 9 (涡轴-9) turboshaft engine currently under development:
- Power: 1000 kW
- Fuel consumption: 0.311 kg/(kW·h)
- Pressure ratio: > 8
- Inlet temperature: 1355 degrees Celsius
- Power-to-weight ratio: 5.4
Another new engine is under development, it is developed by China and Turbomeca. It is called the WZ16 (涡轴16) turboshaft engine. Its power is 1500 KW, and will be planted in WZ10 and Z-15 /EC175.
With WZ-9 turboshafts, WZ10 can carry 16 HJ-10 missiles, but the payload is a bit heavy for WZ10. After new WZ16 engines are planted in WZ10, it can carry as much weapons as AH-64.
The auxiliary power unit
Auxiliary power unit
An auxiliary power unit is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft, as well as some large land vehicles.-Function:...
(APU) of WZ-10 is centered on a brand-new brushless DC electric motor
Brushless DC electric motor
Brushless DC motors also known as electronically commutated motors are electric motors powered by direct-current electricity and having electronic commutation systems, rather than mechanical commutators and brushes...
designed by Huafeng Avionics (华烽航空电器) Co, a subsidiary of GAIC
Guizhou Aircraft Industry Corporation
Guizhou Aircraft Industry Corporation is a Chinese aircraft manufacturer and military aircraft in Guizhou province. The companies products include trainers, turbojets, missiles and launchers.-Products:Trainers...
. The new electric motor is characterized by its low voltage, high power, high rpm, and stable current, and the entire development only took three months. In contrast to previous helicopter designs, the integrated APU also provides power to onboard avionics for WZ-10, where early designs had separately systems for starting the main engine and powering onboard avionics. Such system has never been used on Chinese helicopters before, and its adaptation on WZ-10 proved to be successful.
WZ-10 is not stealthy, but careful attentions have been given to reduce its electro-magnetic characteristics to reduce the probability of being detected. The planned procedure to reduce its radar cross section includes adopting radar absorbent paints. Another planned measure is to incorporate laser altimeter pioneered by Israel, which would reduce the probability of intercept by enemy’s electronic support measures in comparison to traditional radar altimeter, which emits radio/radar signals, while laser is far less prone to interception. Chinese have claimed that the avionics of WZ-10 is more advanced that of Russian attack helicopters, and the avionics suit enables WZ-10 to be able to conduct mission at a level that is just 10 meters above the ground.
Rotors
The main rotor is mounted in the midsection of the fuselage, consisted of a total of five blades. From 1994 through 2001, the deputy chief engineer of CAICChanghe Aircraft Industries Corporation
Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation is a Chinese helicopter manufacturer and supplier to the People's Liberation Army of China. The company is based in the city of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. Changhe employs 4300 employees in two production facilities with 1.29 million sq. metres and 0.22...
, Mr. Li Meng (李萌) led the team to successfully develop the main rotor for WZ-10, winning two patents in the process. The main rotor blade, Type 95KT composite rotor blade was a top priority of the 8th 5-yr plan that first begun in that era, and it was one of the ten critical technologies of WZ-10. China never had such advanced technology and Mr. Li Meng had to lead his team to develop it on their own, and finished the job ahead of schedule. The early successful completion not only enabled WZ-10 to fly a full year ahead of the schedule, but Type 95KT blades have also been widely used afterward in new helicopters and upgrading old helicopters.
Type 95KT foamed composite blade requires many new manufacturing technique that previously did not exist in China, including: the soaking of the prefabricated material in special solutions under medium temperature, foaming of the carbon fiber and glass fiber composite material, solidification process of the foaming material, adding composite skin layers, and mathematical models for predicting the thermal expansion of the molds used for composite materials. Mr. Li Meng and his team made breakthroughs in all of these area and with the new techniques they developed, the production was greatly improved, with the energy cost reduced by 90%, production cycles shortened by more than five sixth, and molds needed reduced by five sixth also. China has claimed that these breakthroughs enabled Chinese productivity to reach its western counterparts. In addition to the composite material, there are four titanium alloy layers on the leading edge of every blade.
WZ10's successful main rotor and blades will be also manufactured for the EC175, so we can say that EC175 is WZ10 's transport version .
Based on the success of Harbin Z-9
Harbin Z-9
|-See also:-External links:* * *...
and HC120, fenestron
Fenestron
A Fenestron is a shrouded tail rotor of a helicopter that is essentially a ducted fan. The housing is integral with the tail skin, and, like the conventional tail rotor it replaces, is intended to counteract the torque of the main rotor...
configuration was originally adopted for the tail rotor. However, due to the inherit disadvantages of the design, such as higher power requirement, higher construction and maintenance cost, higher resistance and weight, fenestron design was dropped after test flights, and a more conventional tail rotor configuration was adopted. The 4-blade tail rotor utilizes the similar to the tail rotor of AH-64, with two pairs at unequal distance instead of 4 blades at the equal distance, and one of the main purposes of such arrangement was to reduce noise. The tail rotor blades are consisted of a total of 11 layers of glass-reinforced plastic
Glass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
and composite material, enable them to sustain direct bullet hits.
Weaponry
Due to its modular design concept, WZ-10 can be armed with a wide variety of weaponry. The adaptation of Chinese GJV289A standard, the Chinese equivalent of the MIL-STD-1553B databus architecture, enables weaponry of both Soviet and western origin to be adopted by WZ-10. Offensive weaponry consists of machine guns, cannons, rockets and missiles. The stub wings have two hardpoints each for a total of four, each hardpointHardpoint
A hardpoint, or weapon station, is any part of an airframe designed to carry an external load. This includes a point on the wing or fuselage of military aircraft where external ordnance, countermeasures, gun pods, targeting pods or drop tanks can be mounted.-Rail launchers:Large missiles and...
being able to carry up to 4 missiles for a total of up to 16.
Cannon and machine guns
Internal armament consists of a gun mount installed on the chin of the aircraft (likely to be of 30mm calibre). Two stub wings provide attachment points for external ordnance or gun pods. The guns are mounted either in the chain gun form, or in the turret. All guns on the WZ-10 can be used either against ground targets or aerial targets, and can be directly aimed by pilots’ HMS. In the turret form, automatic grenade launcher can also be housed next to the machine gun in the same turret.Three types of chain-fed autocannons are available for WZ-10, with the first being a 23 mm automatic chain gun indigenously developed by China. Like all other chain guns, this 23 mm gun covers a sector of 130 degrees. The largest caliber of chain gun carried by WZ-10 is a 30 mm automatic gun, a Chinese development of the Russian 2A72 autocannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
for aircraft use. One of the primary reasons to adopt the 2A72 30 mm gun for aerial use is its high reliability, and according to Russian claim, the failure rate of 2A72 is nearly zero. Another important reason for developing an aerial version of the 2A72 30 mm gun is to simplify logistics. Older 30 mm guns used on fighter jets such as Shenyang J-6
Shenyang J-6
The Shenyang J-6 was the Chinese-built version of the Soviet MiG-19 'Farmer' fighter aircraft.-Design and development:...
is not compatible with ground and naval guns of the same caliber, and using the same ammo for air, ground and naval guns with the same caliber would greatly reduce the operational cost.
The most powerful autocannon that can be mounted on the WZ-10 is the Chinese reverse-engineered 25 mm M242 Bushmaster
M242 Bushmaster
The M242 Bushmaster is a 25 mm chain-fed autocannon. It is used extensively by the US armed forces, as well as by NATO's and some other nations' forces in ground combat vehicles and watercraft...
adopted for helicopter use. Originally mounted on the NVH-4 derivative of Type 85 AFV
Type 85 AFV
The Norinco Type 85 tracked armoured fighting vehicle is an improved version of the Type 63 APC vehicle. The vehicle is bigger, has additional firing ports and periscopes, a longer chassis with an additional road wheel on each side, and is equipped with an NBC protection system.The Type 85 series...
, the Chinese military was thoroughly impressed with its performance and modified the gun for aerial use. According to Chinese claims, the 25 mm M242 Bushmaster
M242 Bushmaster
The M242 Bushmaster is a 25 mm chain-fed autocannon. It is used extensively by the US armed forces, as well as by NATO's and some other nations' forces in ground combat vehicles and watercraft...
is the most accurate among all three autocannons of its kind in use with the Chinese military, in both ground and aerial formats. Furthermore, it is also said to be the most lethal of all, having the greatest penetrating power against armored vehicles. However, this gun is the most complex and thus the most costly, while being the least reliable type of chain-fed gun in use with the military. The relatively low reliability of the 25 mm autocannon also has prevented the ground version form being widely adopted.
Guns for WZ-10 can also be mounted in the turret form, but this is limited to small caliber machine guns. The largest type of machine gun that may be fitted to the WZ-10 turret is a single 14.5 mm gatling gun
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...
, while the smaller caliber 12.7 mm or 7.62 mm machine guns may be mounted either in single barrel or twin barrel forms. When armed with these smaller caliber machine guns, the coverage is increased to 180 degrees as opposed to the 130 degrees of larger caliber autocannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
s.
The turret is flexible enough to incorporate configurations such as a single barrel machine gun and an automatic grenade launcher with calibers ranging from 30 mm to 40 mm, as in the AH-1 Cobra
AH-1 Cobra
The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a two-bladed, single engine attack helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It shares a common engine, transmission and rotor system with the older UH-1 Iroquois...
. Grenade launchers are only effective against ground targets, while machine guns may be effectively used on both ground and air targets.
Guided and unguided missiles
The air-to-surface missiles deployed by WZ-10 include the domestic HJ-8HJ-8
The HJ-8 or Hongjian-8 is a second generation tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missile system which was originally deployed by the People's Liberation Army since the late 1980s. Pakistan produces this missile system under licence as the Baktar-Shikan at Kahuta Research...
, HJ-9
HJ-9
The Hong Jian-9 is an advanced, third-generation anti-tank missile system deployed by the People's Liberation Army.The missile was developed by Norinco, and one of the chief designers was Yang Chunming . It is similar in appearance to the Israeli MAPATS , causing speculation about the link between...
and HJ-10
HJ-10
HJ-10 is a series of indigenously developed and highly classified Chinese anti-helicopter / anti-tank missiles, they are the primary weapon of the CAIC WZ-10 attack helicopter...
anti-tank missiles. The HJ-10
HJ-10
HJ-10 is a series of indigenously developed and highly classified Chinese anti-helicopter / anti-tank missiles, they are the primary weapon of the CAIC WZ-10 attack helicopter...
is thought to be similar to AGM-114 Hellfire
AGM-114 Hellfire
The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-surface missile developed primarily for anti-armor use. It has multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike capability, and can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100 lb-class air-to-ground precision...
and it has an anti-helicopter capability in addition to anti-tank capability. July 2011, Xinhua News Agency released a photo of Z-9WA firing ADK10 air-to-ground missile. ADK10 is reported to be the official name of HJ10 missile.
The main air-to-air missile
Air-to-air missile
An air-to-air missile is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...
deployed by WZ-10 is TY-90
TY-90
TY-90 is the first air-to-air missile specifically developed for helicopters in dogfights. The missile is developed by China with TY stands for Tian Yan , short for Sky Swallow . Contrary to the erroneous claims, the missile is not developed from MANPAD missiles such as QW-1 Vanguard, but...
, a missile specifically designed for use by helicopters in aerial combat. TY-90
TY-90
TY-90 is the first air-to-air missile specifically developed for helicopters in dogfights. The missile is developed by China with TY stands for Tian Yan , short for Sky Swallow . Contrary to the erroneous claims, the missile is not developed from MANPAD missiles such as QW-1 Vanguard, but...
is claimed to have greater lethality than the MANPAD missiles usually carried by helicopters. The Chinese FN-6
FN-6
FN-6 , also known as the HY-6, is a third generation passive infrared man portable air defence system. It was developed by China, and is their most advanced surface-to-air missile offered in the international market. Specially designed to engage low flying targets, it has a range of 6 km and...
and QW series
QW-1 Vanguard
The People's Republic of China developed QW-1 Vanguard is an all-aspect man-portable surface to air missile, from which a series of missiles were developed.-QW-1:...
missiles can also be deployed, as with other non-Chinese MANPADs. TY-90 and MANPADs are often carried in pairs, with a total of 4 carried. When using larger air-to-air missiles such as PL-9 or similar missiles such as AIM-9 Sidewinder
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried mostly by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. The missile entered service with United States Air Force in the early 1950s, and variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces...
, the total number is reduced to 2.
WZ-10 can be armed with a wide variety of unguided rockets ranging from 20 mm to 130 mm caliber. The largest rockets tested were a type of 130 mm rocket that were carried on the hardpoints just as missiles are carried, while smaller caliber rockets were mounted in conventional rocket pods. The most frequently used rockets are those ranging from 57 mm to 90 mm and a total of 4 pods can be carried under the stub wings, one under each hardpoint
Hardpoint
A hardpoint, or weapon station, is any part of an airframe designed to carry an external load. This includes a point on the wing or fuselage of military aircraft where external ordnance, countermeasures, gun pods, targeting pods or drop tanks can be mounted.-Rail launchers:Large missiles and...
.