China shows off Z-9WZ to international media
Reuben F Johnson, Correspondent - Kiev
Additional reporting by
Michael J Gething Contributing Editor - London
A variant of the HAI Z-9WZ was shown during a press visit to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Aviation 4th Helicopter Regiment at Tongzhou, just outside Beijing, on 24 July.
The helicopter, which is a development from the Eurocopter AS 365N Dauphin 2, is built at the Harbin Aircraft Plant, where several other armed versions of the aircraft have been seen.
Journalists look at a HAI (Eurocopter) Z-9WZ Haitun attack helicopter during a demonstration at a People's Liberation Army Aviation 4th Helicopter Regiment airbase in Beijing on 24 July 2012. The designation or manufacturer of the EO/IR turret is not known.
Although the 4th Helicopter Regiment has hosted foreign military delegations in the past, this was the first time that foreign media were permitted on to the base. The regiment is considered one of the PLA's elite detachments and was the force's first armed helicopter unit.
Responding to a reporter's question regarding the country's reputation for military secrecy, China's Ministry of Defence spokesman, Geng Yansheng, said: "The Chinese military is very transparent. Through your cameras and reports, we hope to let more people see this unit. We will continue to organise such visits."
The 4th Helicopter Regiment is often called on for special missions and other operations that require a quick response or flexibility in operations. Included in its missions are more than 100 non-combat military operations: these have covered security and air policing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics; post re-entry retrieval of all nine Shenzhou spacecraft; and rescue work after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which killed at least 70,000 people.
HAI (Eurocopter) Z-9WZ Haitun attack helicopters perform a flight demonstration at a People's Liberation Army Aviation 4th Helicopter Regiment airbase in Beijing on 24 July 2012.
One of the main points of the media presentation was that the unit's armed helicopters are "made-in-China" Z-9WZ models. The unit commander, Colonel Liu Zeqiang, said: "Now, all parts of the Z-9WZ are manufactured in China. It guarantees our training will not be interrupted by a shortage of parts."
The Z-9WZ on show has a modified nose embodying an LLTV/IR undernose turret showing three windows indicating a likely payload comprising a thermal imager or low-light-level TV for night work, a daylight camera, and either a laser rangefinder and laser designator co-located or an integrated laser rangefinder.
It has uprated engines and redesigned stub-wings that can be fitted with armaments, including up to eight HJ-8A anti-tank missiles or TY-90 IR-guided short-range air-to-air missiles; radar warning antennas at nose and tail, and another large antenna below the rear fuselage.
Z-9 variants are also in service with Pakistan, Laos, Mauritius, Mali, Namibia and Kenya.
Western diplomats and military representatives based in Beijing stated that Col Liu's remarks were a thinly veiled reference to the problems that the PLA has had with its fleet of 22 Sikorsky S-70C Black Hawk helicopters, spare parts for which were shut off by the United States after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. The Black Hawks, which are all assigned to the Chengdu military district in Sichuan, were employed for rescue and medical missions after the 2008 earthquake, but the US still refused to waive the sanctions and provide needed spares.
In June, Sikorsky's parent company, United Technologies, was fined USD75 million for exporting helicopter and engine software technology to China in violation of the sanctions. The technology provided by two of UTC's subsidiaries, Pratt & Whitney and Sundstrand, is credited with having helped China's AVIC develop the WZ-10 attack helicopter.
The WZ-10, observed one Beijing-based diplomat, "was conspicuously absent from this press trip, which is not surprising given the number of cutting-edge combat capabilities it demonstrates".
Adding to that, this unit has just arrived.
The body does not seem to be battle-proven and is in a perfect figure.
from where?????
