Z-10 Helicopter Ferry Tanks Snkaku Diaoyu-Japan-China-island-dispute-2013

Alert 5 posts Chinese military hardware pictures straight from the ground, but they can lack context as PLA troops or brave civilians snap photos of classified military manuevers and post to Weibo

Today's featured photo is a Chinese Z-10 attack helicopter saddled with "Ferry Tanks" to fly extra distance and return without refueling. While we can't say where the photo was taken or pinpoint the choppers destination, we did report the PLA earlier this week announced its army aviation unit of attack helicopters were shifting from logistics missions to combat status.

The PLA Daily, China's official military newspaper:

The [helicopter] unit will work on major missions such as long-distance tasks, large scale offshore operations, attack coordination with other units and large scale airborne operations, it said, adding that the unit will also aim to improve its operation capability based on IT technologies.

The English PLA Daily army section has several announcements related to its helicopter units, their accelerated training, and even troops psychological readiness for "military transportation in high-tech wars".

The Ferry Tanks seen in the picture would be particularly useful in long-distance tasks, large scale offshore operations, attack coordination with other units and large scale airborne operations.

If engaged in the Diaoyu/Senkaku island dispute, the Z-10s could be stationed at Air Base Shuimen to the east. Round trip to the islands is out of reach of the Z-10s, without support ships like the Haixun 21 deployed to the South.
But it's possible China's fleet of 48 Z-10s, spread across four attack squadrons of a dozen birds each, could act in some localized support.

Satellite imagery of the base came to light in 2009, and experts believe it was completed late last year.
The Taipei Times reported in May 2012 that J-10 combat aircraft, Su-30 fighters, and various unmanned drones were arriving at the base.

Google

Naha, Okinawa with bar scale and regional map inset 

The Shuimen airbase compliments China's nearby East Fleet that maintains 35 ships in the region, including its newest warship the Type 054, seven submarines, and eight additional landing craft.In addition to aircraft, experts  believe Russian made S-300 long-range surface-to-air missiles ring the airbase, providing some of the best missile protection in the world. The S-300 is comparable to the U.S. made Patriot missile system sent recently to Turkey for its first line of missile defense against Syria.
Among the subs are four Kilo-class diesel-electric Russian made boats capable of the most advanced underwater warfare.
The Z-10 would provide a fine air support element to the fleet with its prototype powered by Canada's Pratt & Whitney engines and software. That's the deal which put that company in hot water for violating the Arms Export Control Act last year and incurred a $75 million fine against it.
The Z-10 is an attack helicopter designed for air-to-ground assaults with limited air-to-air abilities, very similar to the U.S. Apache AH-64.

Wikimedia Commons

AH-64D over Baghdad (Click to expand)

From Military Today:
The Z-10 helicopter has a standard gunship configuration with a narrow fuselage and stepped tandem cockpits. Gunner is seated at the front and the pilot is at the rear. The fuselage has sloped sides to reduce radar cross section. All vital areas are believed to be protected by armor plates.
Weapons of the Z-10 may consist of 30-mm cannon, HJ-9 anti-tank guided missiles (comparable to the TOW-2A), newly developed HJ-10 anti-tank missiles (comparable to the AGM-114 Hellfire) and TY-90 air-to-air missiles. It can also carry un-operated rocket pods.
The prototype of the Z-10 is powered by two Canadian Pratt & Whitney PT6C-67C turboshaft engines, delivering 1,531 hp each. However indigenous engines might be used on production helicopters. It might use the same engine of the WZ-9 helicopter, but it is less powerful than Canadian design.

Google earth via FarEasternBlogspot

A satellite view of the Shuimen air base

Z-10 Thunderbolt Toward Like To Be The American AH-64 Apache

An Army Aviation Z-10 attack helicopter is shown here. Co-developed by the 602 Institute, CHAIC and HAIG as the first dedicated modern attack helicopter for PLA Army Aviation since 1998, Z-10 is generally believed in the same class as South African Rooviak and Italian A129, yet still not as capable as American AH-64 Apache. 

 

 

 

The helicopter adopts a standard gunship configuration with a narrow fuselage and stepped tandem cockpit with the gunner in the front seat and the pilot in the backseat. The fuselage appears to have a stealthy diamond shaped cross section to reduce RCS. It also have a 5-blade main rotor made of composite material and an AH-64 style 4-blade tail rotor. All the vital areas of the fuselage including the cockpit and fuel tanks are believed to be protected by the armor plates. It weighs about 5.5 tons and was powered initially by two P&W PT6C-76C turboshaft engines (rated @ 1,250kW each) on the prototypes. However domestic developed engines (upgraded WZ-9) are being used in production batches due to the embargo imposed by the west. Its rotor and transmission systems may have been designed with extensive technical assistance from Eurocopter France and Agusta. Its main weapon are 8 newly developed KD-9 or KD-10 ATGMs in the same class of American AGM-114 Hellfire. A 23mm cannon is mounted under the chin, aimed via gunner's helmet mounted display. Also up to 8 PL-90 AAMs can be carried against enemy helicopters and slow-moving fixed wing aircraft. Its range can be further extended by external fuel tanks. Similar to AH-64, Z-10 features nose mounted PNVS and TVDS housing FLIR, TV camera, laser range finder and designator. RWR and radar jammer antennas are installed on both sides of the forward and aft fuselage. In addition, two laser warning receivers was installed on top of the pylon tips. The helicopter may have been fitted with an integrated communication/navigation system, a comprehensive ECM suite, IFF, chaff/flare launchers, 1553B data bus, HOTAS and a glass cockpit. A preliminary concept was developed in 1995 by Russian Kamov OKB as a contrator. The full development started in 1998 at 602. Two prototypes were built in 2003 and six more were built in 2004. The first flight of 02 prototype took place on April 29, 2003. Several Z-10 prototypes powered by PT6C-76C engine were evaluated by the Army in 2007. However the production was halted due to the embargo of PT6C-76C engine imposed by the Canadian government. In 2009 it was reported that an "optimized" version (Z-10A?) was under development and expected to enter the mass production. This version is powered by the less powerful WZ-9 engines (~1,000kW) thus was forced to have its weight reduced by eliminating certain less-critical parts such as less armor protection, smaller PNVS/TVDS on the nose similar to that of Z-9WA and a smaller weapon load. After its design certification in October 2010, the first batch of 12 Z-10s entered the service with PLA Army Aviation (S/N LH951xx) in late 2010. More Z-10s are entering the service with the Army (S/N LH981xx, 961xx, 941xx, 991xx, 911xx) since late 2011. However some still carry the original PNVS/TVDS installed on the prototypes but are powered by WZ-9 turboshafts. This version also features additional equipment such as an IR jammer (?) installed on the cockpit roof. It has been speculated that Z-10 could be powered by the new WZ-16 turboshaft engine (~1,500kw) in the future.