After a period of rapid development in the 1960s, navies of all countries realized the role of helicopters in fleet anti-submarine missions. Therefore, in the next 10 years, a large number of new ship-based models were born. The French Navy also took a fancy to the Dolphin light helicopter, which was originally developed only for civilian use during this period.
Early Dolphin Helicopters were unsuccessful commercial products
Dolphin, which switched to two engines, began to have military value
The original Dolphin was just a purely commercial product that was not successful. As a result, a significant upgrade was carried out before bidding for the Navy's carrier-based helicopter project. For example, the structure and exterior shape of the fuselage were readjusted, and the number of engines increased from one to two. Thus, on a test flight in 1975, the dolphins set a speed record of 322 kilometers per hour. Three years later, the first production models began to enter service with the French Navy. But at this stage, dolphins are not actually used for front-line combat training. It is mainly used for personnel transportation, search and rescue and battlefield medical services, but also shoulders a large number of departmental law enforcement tasks.
Dolphin helicopters of the U.S. Coast Guard
Israeli dolphins landing on a Sal 4.5-class missile boat
Due to the small size of this helicopter, it does not need to occupy too much operating space, and is recognized by international buyers as having a high cost performance. As a result, the Dolphins were listed on the market for only 5 years and were bought by 265 by various countries. In addition to private shipping companies, it also includes the coast guards of the United States, Israel, Australia, Argentina, Japan, Spain, Sweden, Malaysia and other countries, as well as the army and navy forces of Chile, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and other countries. Britain, across the sea, also had a small purchase for logistical support tasks similar to the French army. Taiwan on the other side also purchases equipment.
The Irish Air Force is equipped with dolphin helicopters
Dolphin helicopters equipped by the Japanese police department
The Taiwanese side also purchases and uses Dolphin helicopters
In the 1980s, naval operations became increasingly intense and complex. The French Navy demanded that a new version of the dolphin be developed that could directly participate in combat. Especially for those destroyers with limited tonnage, equipped with good performance of air anti-submarine capabilities. Considering that European warships tend to be smaller than the U.S.-Soviet type of the same class, such a compromise requirement is all the more necessary. So in 1984, the combat Panther utility helicopter was upgraded. After more than a year of frequent testing, mass production finally began in 1986. Because of the replacement of engines, the modification of the streamlined design of the shell, and the use of new avionics systems, it became a generalist in anti-submarine and support operations.
The upgraded Panther has a variety of weapon mounting capabilities
Panther helicopters displaying various weapons at the air show
In terms of armament, the Panther was first equipped with long-range active sonar and active sonar buoys, specifically designed to detect submarines up to 500 meters underwater. Once targets from the Warsaw Pact countries have been captured, light anti-submarine torpedoes such as the MK46 class can be dropped. In order to support landing operations, the helicopter can also choose to install a 20mm machine gun or a 68-70mm rocket launch nest. When performing anti-tank missions, it is enough to carry 8 thermal anti-tank missiles. If you need to deal with enemy helicopters or other aircraft, you can also choose to use the air combat configuration of 8 Northwest Wind missiles.
The 8 anti-tank missile configuration makes the Panther's firepower very impressive
A Panther helicopter that launches anti-tank missiles in the test
Soon, many countries that had previously used the Dolphin series helicopters were adding Black Panthers with greatly increased performance to their militaries. In addition to the French Navy itself, Israel, Bulgaria, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Indonesia and Brazil all lost orders. Among them, only Brazil put the Panther in the hands of the Army, and the other buyers used it to deploy on their own light combat ships. Until today in the 21st century, improved versions of the continuously upgraded electric warfare system are still entering the service of armies of various countries.
A Panther helicopter landing on the aircraft carrier CHARLES DE GAULLE
Black Panther helicopter of the Bulgarian Navy
Of course, due to the light helicopter origin, the Panther has had a low ceiling from the beginning. This family of products is mainly used to meet the needs of small and medium-sized ships, so the volume is strictly limited, resulting in a very limited load and range. The French Navy itself used it only as a means of replenishment, and resolutely equipped its main warships with medium-sized NH90s. As for the United States and Britain, which are fully capable of deploying better models, they will only purchase dolphins to take care of miscellaneous work, and will not import black panthers for combat. Only for many small and medium-sized navies, the Panther-level weapon is enough to meet the leap from scratch.
The British army purchased dolphins mainly for official travel
The Panther was also only a playing role in the French Navy
In addition, in the far east, there is a branch of the dolphin family that developed independently. It turned out that as early as 1980, the Chinese Navy had purchased a batch of Dolphin carrier-based helicopters originating in France. However, because the combat Panther has not been born, these helicopters can only undertake search and rescue and transport tasks. But because of the purchase of parts and the authorization, The China-made Z-9 helicopter was soon introduced. By 1992, the Z-9B, which used 70% domestic parts, had also begun to enter service. Because of its good deployment capabilities, the Z-9 was a small air anti-submarine helper for most capital ships, even after the Ka-27 helicopter was commissioned.
The first imported Dolphin helicopters
The homegrown Z-9 helicopter is also constantly upgrading its armament
In order to be used by army aviation units, the Z-9 series also developed WZ-9 gunships with anti-tank capabilities. Obviously, these operations have references to the development trajectory of European countries of origin. Although China has never introduced black panthers, it has not prevented it from arming dolphins. Especially in the absence of professional attack helicopters, the Dolphin-based WZ-9 is the most popular low-altitude support firepower for ground aviation. Until 2002, z-9 products with completely autonomous property rights were also certified.
WZ-9 helicopter gunship for army aviation
The development of the times has also allowed the WZ-9 to be constantly updated
In addition to domestic equipment, the independent development of the WZ-9 is also mostly used for overseas arms sales. Including the Pakistan Army, as well as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Laos, Mali, Ghana, Cameroon and Bolivia have all opted for procurement. This also makes the dolphin family from France grow stronger than before.
WZ-19 attack helicopter in public flight demonstration
The number of slowly increasing WZ-19 fleets
Finally, refer to the excellent experience of the US military in converting uh-1 utility helicopters into AH-1 cobra attack helicopters. The Chinese Army also changed the Dolphin-based WZ-9 to a professional WZ-19 attack helicopter in 2011. Therefore, anyone with a little common sense can see that the dolphin family will continue to be active around the world for a long time.