Z-10 attack helicopters attached to the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) Army recently conducted a series of
sea-crossing assault drills on a Navy warship. The combination of Army
helicopters and Navy warships can significantly boost the PLA's
amphibious, vertical landing capability and will play a vital role in
potential military operations on the island of Taiwan, military analysts
said on Wednesday.
An aviation brigade under the 73rd Group
Army and a Navy vessel squadron recently held an exercise on
cross-service integration between helicopters and warships, in which
Army helicopters including the Z-10, Z-9 and Mi-171 landed on a Navy
warship and conducted coordinated command and sea-crossing assault
drills in a southern sea area off East China's Fujian Province, China
Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.
During the drills, the Army helicopters
took off from a land base, approached the sea area where the Navy's Type
071 amphibious landing ship was located, and landed on the flight deck
of the warship, the report said.
After soldiers boarded the aircraft,
transport helicopters took off again and headed toward the mission area
at low altitude under the cover of attack helicopters. On arriving at
the designated areas, the soldiers aboard the helicopters rappelled down
the helicopters and initiated the attack, CCTV reported.
At least one Z-10 attack helicopter
featured in the drills is the latest, upgraded variant with
upward-facing exhaust openings, which are expected to reduce the
chopper's infrared signals and make it harder to target, CCTV's military
program Weihutang pointed out.
This type of exercise is very
significant for the PLA's amphibious, vertical landing capability, as
the Army Aviation Force can be trained to become capable of integrating
with the Navy Aviation Force and Marines in a large-scale landing
operation, a military expert who asked not to be named told the Global
Times on Wednesday.
The Navy Aviation Force does not have
attack helicopters like the Z-10, and the strong fire support from this
kind of helicopter will be vital in suppressing hostile ground forces,
the expert said.
China is developing the Type 075
amphibious assault ship, which will be able to host more helicopters
than the Type 071 in amphibious assault missions. Two Type 075s have
been launched since 2019.
Zhang Keqiang, a flight commander of the
Army aviation brigade, said on CCTV that the drills accumulated data
and experience for future helicopter-warship integrated combat.
Amphibious assault and landing ships, as
well as the helicopters carried by them, are key instruments in
potential military operations on the island of Taiwan, the anonymous
expert said.
