Chinese Z-10A Attack Helicopter Shows Off New Missile During Live-Fire Exercise

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...-fire-exercise

Video has emerged from China showing Z-10A attack helicopters from the People’s
Liberation Army Ground Force launching what’s reportedly a new type of missile
during a live-fire exercise. The footage appeared online after screengrabs
showing the new air-to-surface weapon were posted on social media last week.
These first images originated from the state-owned China Central Television 13
(CCTV 13) channel and showed crews loading the missiles onto four-round racks on
the Z-10A’s outboard stub-wing hardpoints before they were launched at an
undisclosed location.

The missiles engaged a variety of armored vehicle targets, including tanks. The
range at which these were knocked out is likely indicative of a fire-and-forget
weapon and the use of Z-10As in combination with at least one Z-19A suggests
that the latter type may have provided targeting data using its mast-mounted
millimeter-wave (MMW) radar, forming a hunter-killer team.

Interestingly, China military expert Andreas Rupprecht, who goes by
@RupprechtDeino on Twitter, has suggested that the weapon may already have
completed its development and is now in frontline use — or, at least, is
undergoing the final phase of pre-service trials.

The anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) bears some resemblance to the China North
Industries Corporation (NORINCO) Blue Arrow 21 (BA-21), a weapon that’s thought
to have a range of around 11 miles and guidance based on a dual-mode
millimeter-wave radar/semi-active laser seeker.

Offered for export at Airshow China at Zhuhai in 2018, the helicopter-launched
BA-21 is reportedly an enhanced derivative of the AKD-10 missile that is used by
the PLAGF’s Z-10 and Z-19 attack rotorcraft and that is broadly equivalent to
the U.S. AGM-114 Hellfire. The Chinese missile has a reported range of around
4.3 miles. While the initial AKD-10 employed semi-active laser guidance, later
iterations of the weapon reportedly incorporate an MMW seeker.

Previously, a drone-launched BA-21 version was displayed at Zhuhai in 2016,
intended as part of the armory of the Wing Loong II unmanned combat air vehicle,
among others.

As well as two missiles on each of the four-round launchers, the Z-10As were
also seen carrying unidentified pods mounted below the weapons. The function of
this store is unclear, but it has some similarities with training pods used by
other helicopters to simulate targets for engagement as well as hits to the
aircraft itself.

Another possibility is that these pods contain data-link equipment, which would
potentially allow targeting data to be handed from the Z-19A and then passed on
to the missile once launched by the Z-10A. This would allow a single
radar-equipped helicopter to provide targeting coordinates for multiple Z-10As.

Still, such a system would not offer the same ‘fire-and-forget’ capability that
the Apache Longbow system provides. The launching helicopter would have to
maintain line-of-sight for a period of time after launch.

Finally, it could be some kind of independent radar illuminator for
self-targeting the radio-frequency-guided missiles, but it would probably have
to be tied to the helicopter’s electro-optical system, which would seem to
defeat the point to some degree.

In addition to employing a new missile, the PLAGF’s Z-10 has recently been
active in the maritime domain, with deck trials on board a Type 072A landing
ship of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), reportedly conducted in the
Taiwan Strait.

The Changhe Aircraft Industries Group Z-10 — locally named Pi Li Huo, or
Thunderbolt — is the PLAGF’s first modern attack helicopter, first flown in
April 2003 and entering service in pre-production form in late 2010.

Before the emergence of this new missile, its main weapons were understood to be
eight AKD-9 or AKD-10 ATGMs, plus a 23mm cannon and various rocket pods. It can
also be armed with PL-90 air-to-air missiles. Primary sensors are a WXG1006
package in the nose that contains a forward-looking infrared, TV camera, laser
rangefinder, and laser designator. The definitive production version for the
PLAGF is the Z-10A that incorporates some detailed changes in terms of the
targeting system and, perhaps, features uprated engines.

The Z-19, meanwhile, which was seen in the video working alongside the Z-10, was
developed by the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group as a light scout/attack
helicopter. First flown in May 2010, it reportedly entered service in 2012 and
is named Hei Xuan Feng, or Black Cyclone. As well as KD-9 or KD-10 ATGMs and
PL-90 AAMs, it can be armed with gun pods and rockets. The definitive Z-19A
version is fitted with a mast-mounted MMW phased-array radar, making it an ideal
complement to the Z-10 for armed reconnaissance and target designation. It can
use this system to locate, classify, prioritize, and engage targets in any
weather, day or night. In this case, it may now be able to data-link those
targets to a nearby Z-10.

Rupprecht identifies the Z-10As and Z-19As in the video as belonging to the
People’s Liberation Army Ground Force’s (PLAGF) 161st Air Assault Brigade, which
is assigned to the 83rd Group Army. The brigade is headquartered at Xinxiang, in
Henan province and is part of the Central Theater Command.

While we await more details about the Z-10A’s new missile, it’s clear that the
People’s Liberation Army is continuing to make serious efforts to improve the
capabilities of its attack helicopter fleet — and at the same time, it seems to
be refining its concept of operations.



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