A few days ago, the aviation industry Changfei , which is responsible for the development and production of our military helicopters, released an official material showing that it is preparing for the first flight of a new model of the Z-10 armed helicopter ; although we cannot confirm this new model. Who is the model? But obviously our military has chosen to continue to promote the Z-10 line in the development of WZZ. Just recently, there have been many high-definition photos on the Internet of a new configuration Z-10 undergoing test flights. .
The tail of this aircraft is painted with Z-10ME, which is the export version of the Z-10 armed helicopter. This is one of its prototypes. Judging from the photos, the configuration of this prototype is significantly higher than any mass-produced version used by our military. What can be seen on the outer surface of the fuselage is not only the common Z-10 exterior, but also the armor reinforcements for the equipment compartment openings that have become popular. On this prototype aircraft, all the armor reinforcements are installed in place, including some of the engine compartment . Weak points were again supplemented with additional armor plates. In fact, although the Z-10 is a medium-sized helicopter, its protection configuration is more reasonable than that of many heavy-duty helicopters. The , the Apache, and the have no cockpit side protection at all. In the air, they are counted by AKs on the ground. It can penetrate a hundred meters away; and the protection of the power system is something that many people boast of, which is not even available in heavy weapons such as the Ka-52.
Not to mention these new additional armors, another eye-catching change is the millimeter wave radar . Anyone who is familiar with our army's own armed helicopter knows that our army's Z-10 and the previous export All versions do not have this thing, only the Z-19 is used to undertake more armed reconnaissance The helicopter on the mission carried this set of equipment; but for export users, it is still different. They do not have a complete system, and they still have to rely on a type of WZ to conquer the world, so the Z-10ME is equipped with millimeter wave Radar is not surprising; of course, with the development of our military's new generation of airborne ammunition, helicopter strike capabilities have become further long-range, and it is also possible that our military's Z-10 will be equipped with millimeter-wave radar in the future.
In addition to the addition of a millimeter-wave radar visible to the naked eye, it can also be seen that there are many more passive alarm devices around and below the fuselage. Not only are modern weapons and equipment equipped with a warning system that optically detects the red/ultraviolet characteristics of incoming missiles, as well as a passive radar warning receiver; it also has a threat detection system based on the radar principle, which uses radar active scanning to detect Tracking incoming missiles further improves the ability to detect incoming threats and the reliability of alarms, preventing missed alarms and false alarms. Coupled with more radars and infrared jamming bombs, it greatly improves survivability.
In addition to the fact that the missile warning equipment has been replaced with a new model and uses a new principle, and the engine exhaust port has been arranged upward like the new version of the self-use model, the Z-10ME helicopter that appeared this time has also made another focus on its survivability. Improve, just It is a directional infrared countermeasure system; that is, two small spherical objects installed at the top of both sides of the short wing. They may be ignored if you don't look carefully. Once they sense an incoming missile, they will activate the seeker that illuminates the missile, causing it to It is blinded by interference and has a very good effect on various individual anti-aircraft missiles and higher-end infrared guided munitions.
Because of the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine this year, many people must have been deeply impressed by this equipment that is crucial to the survivability of helicopters. A large number of Russian armed helicopters really rely on this system. With the protection, he survived the intensive anti-air fire and completed the mission. For example, during the air assault in the direction of Gostromel Airport on the first day, a Ka-52 helicopter relied on its directional infrared countermeasures system to interfere with dozens of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles launched towards it, and successfully survived. It also shows that this kind of confrontation system actually improves survivability far more than some people imagine that using heavy weapons and armor is much better.
Judging from the layout, the two DIRCM turrets installed on the short wing tips are much smaller than the similar systems installed by the Russian army on the Ka-52.This is not surprising. The Russian military's system is also an old system with advanced technology many years ago. Our country's defense industry is much stronger in optical technology and electronic technology than Russia's many years ago. Naturally, it can reduce both volume and weight. Press it down to further improve performance. Because there are better passive warning equipment, which can realize threat identification at a longer distance and with higher accuracy, this system is obviously more powerful in improving survivability than the suite currently deployed by the Russian army. of.
Relying on additional armor plates, well-designed armor layout, and effective infrared signal shielding, the high-end version of the Z-10 maximizes the survivability of the airframe itself; it relies on farther situational awareness to stay away On the front line, it relies on diversified threat detection and warning equipment to passively sense, and then relies on DIRCM to directly confront incoming missiles. It should be said that the Z-10 has also achieved the best in improving survivability through interference and countermeasures. Excellent level.
The only thing that is still a little behind is the ammunition. The Z-10ME featured this time still uses the quite old AKD-10 air-to-ground missile. In today's environment, the range can no longer meet the needs of safe survival. After all, the most critical thing for Wuzhi's survivability today is to take advantage of situational awareness, stay away from the front line of the battlefield, and use weapons outside the range of enemy air defense weapons. At this point, our army's new generation of general-purpose ground-attack ammunition for helicopters has appeared many times on camera, and there are many different versions. Those ammunition with longer range and more power can allow helicopters to operate away from high-threat environments. , as long as the customer is willing to add money, it can naturally be optional.
Of course, I still have to say that from the actual situation, this is just a prototype aircraft, so all the subsystems related to situational awareness and survivability that can be installed and integrated on the Z-10 have been installed completely, but it does not mean that Will be sold to all international customers, or a private version will eventually be available They will all be manufactured or upgraded according to this ultra-high configuration scale; what will actually be sold in the end, or what our own Z-10 will become, still depends on how much money is spent, and how much money is available to install it. What is shown in this photo is that if the Z-10 is fully equipped, it will be no worse than any internationally advanced competitors in terms of these new subsystems.
