For the last 20 years, the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has equipped its naval helicopters from the Z-8, Z-9, to more recently the Z-20J with external gun pods designed for ground support fire missions. These pods typically carry around 1,000 rounds.
The gun pod mounted on the Z-20J is derived from the QJH001 door gun, which itself its based to the PLA’s QJC88 family of heavy machine guns (link).
There's nothing special about the pod really. However, it exemplifies the PLA’s methodical, incremental approach to weapons development. Rather than pursuing radical innovation, they focus on refining proven systems (home or aboard) to maximize mileage before transitioning to something entirely new.
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Hi Res Photos Of The Day: Z-20J
Photo credit goes to B747SPNKG
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Move Over PLA Army Flyboys, Now It Is PLA Marine's Turn To Show Off Their Shipborne Assault Z20J
The examples on display at the current Zhuhai Airshow belong to the PLAN Marine Aviation Brigade, and provide substantially better features and capacities over the preceding Z-8 and Z-9s. (link)
Similar to the Z-20T, J variant's stub wings can host different fire support solutions from rockets, gunpods, to ATGM
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