AH-1Z is far far superior to Z-10 and any other choices on the table. It outclasses AH-64D in some key areas at less than half the price. I was just reading narratives of US veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Each and everyone liked AH-1W (variant from which Z is derived) over Apache. It is a dream machine for infantry support they say. It carries every capability of AH-64D, flies faster, higher and farther than its competitors except for Ka-52 which is not offered to us. It carries most advanced generation of US sensors whose quality is unmatched.
Z-10 is not suited for high mountain operation. It has very limited ceiling and mountains in Northern FATA can reach upto 18000 ft. Only AH-1Z is capable of operating at such altitudes. Not even AH-64D could do this as noted by US veterans in Afghanistan. They had to bring in cobras to replace apaches
Seems WZ-10 and AH-1Z have similar service ceilings. 6400 meters compared to 6000+ meters. Anyhow, just because of politics, Pakistan has to reject AH-1Z because or else Pakistan has to do what the US wants Pakistan to do which includes getting into costly pointless wars.
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