Z-10, nicknamed Thunderbolt, is a medium-sized armed helicopter designed by the China Aviation Industry Corporation Helicopter Design and Research Institute, manufactured by Changhe Aircraft Industry Company, and equipped with the PLA Aviation Corps. The main task of the Z-10 is battlefield fire support. It has multiple mounting points and multiple racks, which can hang machine guns, machine guns, rockets, anti-tank missiles, and air-to-air missiles.

In addition, the Z-10 uses certain Stealth design with smaller radar scattering cross section. The aircraft has the capability of all-weather and time-domain information-based ultra-low-altitude multi-machine multi-target coordinated operations and precise ground-to-air strikes. It can form a tier match with the Z-19 to jointly constitute ground attack, air attack, and firepower of Army Aviation The core strength of support. Z-10 was first revealed at the 2012 Zhuhai Air Show. The Z-10 can carry air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, and can launch an attack completely in the concealed place.

It is rumored that the hardware originated from France and Israel, and the software was all developed by China. The data chain is the Chinese GJV289A specification, which is equivalent to the US MIL-STD-1553B. Therefore, Western weapons may be used on the Z-10, which is beneficial for export.

The Zhi-10 is designed to use a variety of engines. The engines that have been tried include: Russian VK-2500, Ukrainian TV3-117, and Canadian PT6C-67C. In the end, I believe that China’s self-developed turboshaft engine WZ-9 will be used, but due to the delay of the development time, the test machines all use Canadian PT6C-67C.

The main rotor has five blades made of 95KT composite material. Prior to this, China did not have many production processes required for this material.

The Z-10 is the code name given to this type of helicopter by AVIC and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. This type of armed helicopter was rumored to be “Wuzhi-10” (or “WZ-10”), but in fact, the military helicopter genealogy of the helicopter begins with the word “straight”, and WZ-10 is vortex axis-10. The English code of the engine.

Z-10X: Army aviation type, enhanced for air-to-air combat
Z-10K: Air Force Airborne Troops, enhanced for air-to-ground operations

Avionics

The data chain is China’s GJV289A specification, which is equivalent to the US’s MIL-STD-1553B. Therefore, Western weapons may be used on the Z-10, which is beneficial for export.

Propulsion system

The Zhi-10 is designed to use a variety of engines. The engines that have been tried include: Russian VK-2500, Ukrainian TV3-117, and Canadian PT6C-67C. In the end, I believe that China’s self-developed turbo shaft engine WZ-9 will be used, but due to the delay of the development time, the test machines all use Canadian PT6C-67C.

In early 2011, Jane’s Defense Weekly reported that China had successfully replaced the domestic engine named WZ-9 (vortex shaft 9) for Z-10 attack helicopters. The WZ-9 turbo shaft engine was developed by the 608th Research Institute.

Rotor

The main rotor has five blades made of 95KT composite material. Prior to this, China did not have the production process required for this material.

Specification