In previous articles, the author talked about a series of stories about the development of helicopter gunships, such as the American AH64, the Chinese Armed 10, the Russian Ka-52 and Mi-28, and so on. In the nearly 2-year Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia has successively lost more than 30 Ka-52 helicopter gunships. The question arises as to whether there is a future for helicopter gunships. Referring to the lessons and lessons of Russian helicopter gunships, how can the PLA Wuzhi-10 helicopter be further developed?
Ukrainian Army
First, let's talk about the Russian Ka-52 helicopter. The Ka-52 helicopter is a side-by-side two-seat coaxial reverse twin-rotor 10-ton armed helicopter developed by the Soviet Union in the 80s, with a very strong payload capacity and strong firepower strike capability. As a 10-ton helicopter, it has relatively good armor protection. However, a two-seat parallel model is adopted, which is rare in helicopter gunships. Because, the American AH64, the Chinese Wuzhi 10, the German Tiger and other models are all two-seat series mode.
In February 2022, since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, it has been nearly 2 years. Over the course of two years, both sides suffered heavy losses. Among them, in terms of helicopter gunships, as of May 2023, Russia has successively lost 33 Ka-52 helicopter gunships. A question arises, as a 10-ton heavy helicopter gunship, why is the loss of the Ka-52 so large?
Russian Ka-52 helicopter gunship
We need to consider the main tasks of armed helicopters, in fact, the tasks of armed helicopters of various countries are very similar, they are all fighting at low altitudes and ultra-low altitudes, and their main tasks are to strike at ground targets in various places and cover their own ground forces. However, it is very dangerous to fight at ultra-low altitude and low altitude, because the enemy's man-portable anti-aircraft missiles, ground 57-mm anti-aircraft guns or self-propelled machine guns can hit helicopter gunships.
In the early days of the war between the two sides, Ukraine had relatively insufficient ground-based anti-aircraft firepower and man-portable anti-aircraft missiles, and specialized training was also insufficient. Therefore, in the early days of the war, Russia dispatched heavy armed helicopters such as Ka-52 and Mi-28 and achieved a series of results, and its own losses were not large. However, with the changes in the war situation, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other countries have successively provided Ukraine with a series of air defense weapons, such as portable anti-aircraft missiles such as Stingers and Starlight.
Russian Mi-28 helicopter gunship
From this stage, both the Ka-52 and the Mi-28 began to be repeatedly shot down by ground fire. This is caused by the mission of the helicopter gunship, which must fight at low altitude and ultra-low altitude, and will also face threats from all sides. In short, war is a contest of systems. During the entire Russian-Ukrainian war, the Russian Aerospace Forces occupied the initiative on the battlefield, but they never completely seized the battlefield air supremacy, let alone suppressed Ukraine's ground field air defense firepower.
Thanks to Ukrainian warplanes. Ground anti-aircraft fire in various parts of Ukraine basically still has a strong force. Therefore, in the two-year war, not only Mi-28 or Ka-52 and other armed helicopters, but also more advanced main fighters such as Su-35 and Su-34 suffered heavy losses. Seriously, this is no longer the problem of the helicopter gunships or fighters themselves, but the shortcomings of the entire combat system.
American Apache helicopter gunship
Let's make a simple assumption, in the absence of the cooperation of other main equipment, even the American AH64 or the German Tiger will be quickly shot down by ground fire after entering the battlefield. If it is a systematic confrontation that can completely suppress the enemy's anti-aircraft fire, it will definitely be a different story. Of course, the Russian Ka-52 gunship, which also has its own problems.
As we all know, Russian-style equipment is relatively lagging behind in avionics, electronic systems, etc., and the Ka-52 helicopter is no exception. In the face of various ground anti-aircraft firepower, there is a relative lack of early warning reconnaissance. At the same time, there is an even greater lack of jamming and electronic warfare capabilities, which makes it impossible to evade various threats. So, from the experience and lessons of the Ka-52 helicopter, the Wuzhi-10 armed helicopter of the PLA, how should it be further developed?
Euro Tiger gunship
First of all, the mainland's Wuzhi-10 armed helicopter does have certain shortcomings. Because of the influence of insufficient engine power and other problems, the early batch of the continental Wuzhi 10 had to adopt methods such as reducing the payload capacity and reducing the armor protection of the fuselage, which is very dangerous. As the armor of the fuselage is reduced, the ability of the helicopter to resist ground fire is also significantly reduced. Wuzhi 10 is a 6-ton medium-sized armed helicopter, and there is a natural gap with a 10-ton heavy armed helicopter in terms of payload capacity and protection performance.
In the words of Wu Ximing, chief engineer of the Wuzhi 10 project, a model of the Z-10 was actually designed twice in order to reduce weight. In recent years, with the full maturity of the technology of the turboshaft 9G engine, the Wuzhi 10 helicopter has finally gotten rid of the problem of insufficient power. According to the official news report: after the replacement of a new engine, "basically consistent with this expectation, the helicopter climb rate can be increased by about 20%, and the acceleration can be increased by about 10%."
People's Liberation Army Wuzhi 10 helicopter gunship
The rate of climb refers to the speed at which the helicopter climbs in the vertical direction, and the acceleration reflects the level of maneuverability in the horizontal direction, which directly affects the maneuverability and combat effectiveness of the helicopter. In particular, tactical actions such as battlefield maneuvering, evasion, and climbing have very high requirements for engine performance. So, how does the Wuzhi-10 helicopter need to be further developed?
Armed with 10 new modifications
First of all, as a 6 to 7 ton armed helicopter, it needs to be repeatedly weighed between payload capacity, fuel load, and armor protection ability, and it must also be taken into account at the same time. As far as the Wuzhi-10 helicopter is concerned, it is necessary to further improve its electronic warfare and reconnaissance and early warning capabilities to prevent problems as much as possible. Of course, in terms of the overall task, it is still necessary to rely on the construction of the entire combat system.
For example, the J-20 fighter seized air supremacy on the battlefield and comprehensively suppressed the enemy's fighters. J-16 and J-7 fighters comprehensively hit the enemy's ground anti-aircraft firepower. The J-16D fighter carried out a complex of electronic jamming. In such an environment, the safety of helicopter gunships will be greatly improved. Of course, in addition to the helicopter gunship, the long-endurance reconnaissance and combat integrated UAV is also a very critical step.
PLA J-16D electronic warfare aircraft
There are many more stories about the development of the construction of the continental army. The author will talk to you slowly in future articles.