The Z-20 utility helicopter will set a record for the production and installation of military helicopters in China!
In the past few days, state media have reported on the training of the Chinese Navy's latest 0.55-million-ton destroyer, and there are more and more photos of a number of 0.55-million-ton destroyers berthing at the military port dock at the same time.
It can be seen that the 055 drive is still equipped with the main anti-submarine helicopter of our army, the straight 9C, so that a giant ship with a full load displacement of nearly 13,000 is equipped with a 4-ton anti-submarine helicopter, which is unreasonable.
The Chinese Navy's 8 0.55 million ton destroyers and a number of other cutting-edge destroyers can't wait.
Not only the Navy is waiting for the Z-20 anti-submarine helicopter, but also the Air Force Airborne Forces, Transport Search and Rescue Units, Army Aviation and Air Assault Brigade are waiting for this 10-ton domestic utility helicopter.
One: the Navy has an acute shortage of universal carrier-based anti-submarine helicopters
Since the 80s of the last century, the Chinese Navy has faced a huge submarine threat from neighboring countries, and it is urgent to improve the submarine search and attack capabilities of the naval fleet, and the carrier-based anti-submarine helicopter is the best equipment for the fleet's anti-submarine equipment.
The Chinese Navy has successively developed a number of anti-submarine helicopters, including the Z-9C anti-submarine helicopter developed on the basis of the Z-9, the Russian-made Ka-28 anti-submarine helicopter and the domestically produced Z-18F anti-submarine helicopter.
However, the number of Russian-made Ka-28 helicopters is relatively small, and only 12 Ka-28s have been introduced to an independent carrier-based helicopter regiment of the Eastern Theater Navy, which is mixed with the domestically produced Z-9C anti-submarine helicopters.
The body of the Z-18F anti-submarine helicopter is relatively large, and it can only be equipped on our army's "Shandong" and "Liaoning" aircraft carriers and other large combat platforms, and our army's 7,000-ton and 13,000-ton 052D missile destroyers and 055 large drives cannot meet the needs of the Z-18F carrier-based anti-submarine helicopters on board, so the number of equipment is very small.
Before a large number of Z-20F carrier-based anti-submarine helicopters were put into service, the main carrier-based anti-submarine helicopter available to the Chinese Navy was only the Z-9C.
As a 4-ton anti-submarine helicopter, the shortcomings of the Z-9C are very prominent.
First, the radius of anti-submarine warfare is seriously limited, and it can only carry out anti-submarine combat missions within 50-80 kilometers of our army's destroyer formations, and lacks anti-submarine capabilities in the far sea.
Second, the carrying capacity of the Z-9C anti-submarine helicopter is limited, and a single anti-submarine aircraft can only carry a domestic Yu-7 light anti-submarine torpedo to hit underwater targets, but when using two-plane anti-submarine tactics, it is faced with the embarrassing situation that the number of helicopters is insufficient
In addition to the fourth-generation 055 large drive with a double hangar design, which can carry two straight 9C anti-submarine helicopters to perform anti-submarine missions, the third generation of destroyers represented by our army's 052D and 052C destroyers generally adopt a single hangar design, which can only carry one straight 9C anti-submarine helicopter, which seriously limits the Chinese Navy's anti-submarine combat capability in the far sea.
The 10-ton Z-20F anti-submarine helicopter carries a large amount of submarine search equipment and can carry two air-launched anti-submarine torpedoes, with a endurance of about 3 hours, and can carry out large-scale anti-submarine operations at a distance of 100 kilometers from the mother ship, greatly improving the anti-submarine capability of our aircraft carrier formation and destroyer formation.
Therefore, the Chinese Navy urgently needs to replace the Z-20F anti-submarine helicopters with carrier-based helicopter regiments and carrier-based aircraft wings for the navies of various major theaters, and the Navy needs hundreds of Z-20F anti-submarine helicopters.
At present, the Chinese Navy has commissioned three 075 amphibious assault ships, and will soon be equipped with the third domestically produced aircraft carrier, and there are hundreds of demand for the Z-20 Navy general transport type.
Two: the Air Force needs a large number of Z-20 helicopters
At present, the Air Assault Brigade of the Airborne Forces of the Chinese Air Force, the transport search and rescue units of various major theaters (whose main task is to search and rescue our military flight personnel in enemy-occupied areas), and the helicopter regiment of the Hong Kong Garrison are the major helicopter equippants.
Before the Z-20K was put into service, the Chinese Air Force installed a large number of domestically produced Z-8K transport helicopters (K stands for Air Force), and dozens of Z-8K helicopters were installed, but the shortcomings of the Z-8K were very obvious.
As an improved version of the Air Force in the Z-8 family, the 13-ton Z-8K has two major difficulties in carrying out the task of searching for pilots behind enemy lines, one is that it is too large, which seriously limits the maneuverability of the Z-8K. Second, due to the innate design, there is a great lack of firepower for self-defense.
The Z-20K Air Force model developed on the basis of the Z-20 solves this problem very well, and can be equipped with a hatch machine gun according to the needs of the mission to cover the ground search and rescue forces to carry out rescue, and can also be used with an armed helicopter developed on the basis of the Z-20 to mount heavy firepower such as anti-tank missiles and air-launched rockets to deal with ground targets.
The Z-20K not only improves the range, but also takes into account the maneuverability behind enemy lines, and can also carry a special mission team of 4-6 people to carry out search and rescue missions.
At present, the Z-20K general helicopter has been in service in a small number of Hong Kong garrison helicopter regiments, air force transport search and rescue troops and air assault brigades, before the Z-20 helicopter from the Air Force Airborne Forces Air Assault Brigade has been publicly unveiled in the Changchun Air Force Open Day activities, demonstrating the excellent maneuverability and rescue capabilities of the Z-20.
The Chinese Air Force is vigorously developing the air assault brigade under the Airborne Forces, and it also needs to install hundreds of Z-20 general-purpose helicopters to replace a large number of Z-9 and Z-8K helicopters.
Three: The Army is speeding up the refitting of the Z-20
At present, our army has fully equipped all group armies with army aviation brigades and air assault brigades, and the two major provincial military regions of the Tibet Military Region and the Xinjiang Military Region have also set up army aviation brigades directly under the military regions, and a considerable number of army aviation brigades have been equipped with Z-20 helicopters.
If each army aviation brigade and air assault brigade are equipped with two 18-plane general-purpose helicopter battalions, the PLA Army will need to install more than 500 Z-20 helicopters, including Z-20 general-purpose transport type, fire support type, and air command type.
The number of Z-20 helicopters required by the Army Air Assault Brigade is even higher than that of ordinary Army Aviation Brigades, and if the construction of new Army Aviation Brigades and Air Assault Brigades is considered, the number of Z-20 helicopters will be greatly exceeded by this number.
Today, the PLA Army, Navy, and Air Force are waiting to be replaced with a large number of Z-20 helicopters, and the excellent flight performance and modification potential of the Z-20 helicopter determine that the aircraft will be the largest number of helicopters in the history of the PLA, and will create a record in the scale of equipment.