WZ-10 Army Combat Helicopter

The primary mission for WZ-10 is battlefield interdiction, eliminating the enemy ground fastened|mounted and mobile forces, and concurrently certain air combat ability. The WZ-10 is mostly almost like the South African Rooviak and Italian Agusta A129. The PLA Army Aviation long lacked an attack helicopter such as the AH-64 Apache or Mi-28 Havoc.

The Z-10 helicopter has a gunship configuration with a slim fuselage and stepped tandem cockpits. Gunner is seated at the front and the pilot is at the rear. The fuselage has sloped sides to reduce radar cross section. All important areas are believed to be protected by armor plates.

Weapons of the Z-10 may consist of 30-mm cannon, HJ-9 anti-tank guided missiles (comparable to the TOW-2A), newly developed HJ-10 anti-tank missiles (comparable to the AGM-114 Hellfire) and TY-90 air-to-air missiles. It also can carry unoperated rocket pods.

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Mi-24 Hind Combat and Transport Helicopter

Mil Mi-24 is a twin-engined combat helicopter its meant for close support of ground forces, destruction of armored targets and transportation of persons or cargo. The Mi-24 isn't a direct counterpart to the US AH-64 Apache, since unlike this and different Western attack helicopters it's also capable of transporting up to eight troops. As a mix gunship and troop transport, the Hind combat helicopter has no direct NATO counterpart.

The helicopter has six suspension weapon units on the wingtips. The Mi24D (Mi-25) and the Mi-24V (Mi-35) are equipped with a YakB four-barrelled, 12.7mm, built-in, flexibly mounted machine gun, which has a firing rate of 4,000-4,500 rounds a minute and a muzzle velocity of 860m/s. The Mi-24P is fitted with a 30mm, built-in, fixed gun mount; the Mi-24VP with a 23mm, built-in, flexibly mounted gun.

The Mi-24P and Mi-24V have four underwing pylons for up to 12 anti-tank missiles. The Mi-24V (Mi-35) is armed with the Shturm anti-tank guided missile system. Shturm (Nato designation AT-6 Spiral) is a short-range missile with semi-automatic radio command guidance. The 5.4kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead is capable of penetrating up to 650mm of armour. Maximum range is 5km.

The helicopter is powered by two Isotov TV3-117VMA turboshaft engines, developing 2,200shp each. The air intakes are fitted with deflectors and separators to stop dust particle ingestion when taking off from unprepared sites. An auxiliary power unit is fitted.

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RAH-66 Comanche Light Attack Helicopter

The RAH-66 Comanche was an advanced twin engine, two seat (tandem) light attack/armed reconnaissance helicopter developed for the U. S. Army by a joint venture comprising Boeing Helicopters and Sikorsky Aircraft. The Comanche has a five-bladed bearingless main rotor, a shrouded tail rotor, an occasional radar cross section composite fuselage with retractable weapons pylon, a fly-by-wire flight control system, and a completely integrated cockpit.

The mission equipment package incorporates forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and image intensified television sensors for night pilotage and target acquisition. The Comanche can initially be armed with the semi-active laser Hellfire missile, the air-to-air Stinger missile, 2.75 inch aerial rockets, and a turreted 20 mm gun.

The Comanche was meant to switch the current fleet of AH-1 and OH-58 helicopters in all air cavalry troops and light division attack helicopter battalions, and supplement the AH-64 Apache in heavy division/corps attack helicopter battalions. The Army's April 2000 Aviation Force Modernization set up suggested acquisition of 1,213 Comanche aircraft, valued at nearly $34 billion. the first US Army Comanche unit are going to b operationally equipped in 2006.

Aviation battalions will be reorganized as a part of the Army's 2000 Aviation Force Modernization plan. AH-1 Cobras were divested by October 2001, and A and C model OH-58 Kiowas are going to be retired by 2004. The Cobras and Kiowas will be replaced by AH-64D Apaches and eventually by RAH-66 Comanches, the new reconnaissance and attack helicopter scheduled to start joining the army in 2008.

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EC-665 Tiger Combat Helicopter

The EC665 Tiger helicopter is being developed for France and Germany in 3 configurations, UHT multi-role fire support for the German Army and HAD multi-role combat and HAP combat support for the French Army. Tiger is being designed by Eurocopter, a subsidiary of the EADS (European Aeronautics Defence and Space) company formed by DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany, Aerospatiale Matra of France and CASA of Spain.

Tiger can be equipped with four MBDA (formerly Matra BAe Dynamics) Mistral or Raytheon Stinger air-to-air missiles. The air-to-air missile control functions are on the flight control grip. Target acquisition is achieved by using the joystick to steer the sight manually or with automatic tracking. The FIM-92 Stinger missile, also made below license by EADS (formerly LFK), is provided with a 1kg warhead and range up to 5km. The Mistral missile has a 3kg warhead and rangeof 6km.

The Tiger is fitted with EADS/LFK ATA firing posts for the launch of Euromissile HOT 3 and Euromissile TRIGAT LR anti-tank missiles, fired by the gunner. just one weapon is activated at a time. The TRIGAT LR missile has a range of 500m to 5,000m and can be applied in direct attack or terminal dive attack modes. the hot 3 missile has a range of up to four,000m.

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Mi-28N Night Hunter Combat Helicopter

The Mi-28N Night Havoc combat helicopter retains most of the structural style of the Mi-28. the most difference is that the installation of an integrated electronic combat system. other modifications include: new main gearbox for transmitting higher power to the rotor; new high-efficiency blades with swept-shaped tips; and an engine fuel injection control system.

The main sensors of the integrated electronic combat system are the microwave radar antenna, mounted on top of the rotor head, and a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) system. The system displays the helicopter location on a moving map indicator, and flight, systems and target info on liquid crystal displays. The crew are equipped with night-vision goggles.

The helicopter is powered by two TV3-117VMA turboshaft engines, fitted on either side of the fuselage. it's equipped with an auxiliary power unit for self-contained operation. The thermal signature of the helicopter has been reduced by an element of 2.5 times compared to its predecessor, the Mi-24.

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HAL Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter

Dhruv Advanced light Helicopter (ALH) is a 5.5 t class helicopter developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics limited for Indian army, air force, and navy. In February this year, HAL handed over five Dhruv mkIII helicopters to the IA throughout Aero India 2011 Air Show.

The Dhruv has high military capabilities for heliborne assault, logistic support, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance and training. It can even be used as air observation post. it's designed to fulfill the requirement of both military and civil operations. The civil variant of Dhruv carries forward the ruggedness of the military variant. It will carry six passengers in the executive version and twelve in the passenger version.

The Dhruv was originally powered by a pair of TM333-2B turbo shafts developing 746 kW (1000 shp) from Turbomeca of France. This was later switched to the LHTEC CTS800-4N turbo shaft (from the then Allied Signal of USA - now Honeywell) developing 970 kW (1300 shp). The more powerful CTS800-54 turbo shaft developing 1235 kW (1656 hp) was offered as an possibility. but these engines were embargoed by the US, for imposing sanctions on India for her nuclear tests in may 1998. Connections were re-established with Turbomeca and the TM333-2B2 engine was selected, developing 825 kW (1100 shp) at take-off, with growth potential to 900 kW (1200 shp) for subsequent versions and features full authority digital electronic control(FADEC).

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Mi-26 HALO Heavy-Lift Helicopter

The Mi-26 Halo is a twin-turbine heavy-lift helicopter. it's the world's largest production helicopter. The Halo's development started in the early 1970s. The designer's goal was to provide a helicopter with a load capability twice that of any contemporary helicopter. the firs Mi-26 Halo prototype flew in December 1977 and was first displayed at the Paris Air Show in 1981. In 1982, Russian squadrons received their first Halos, that weren't totally operational till 1983. In 1986, India was the first country to buy a Halo. Since then Halos have been sold to almost twenty countries. the value of a Halo is between $10 million and $12 million.

The Mi-26 is the helicopter with an eight-blade main rotor, that is mounted on top of the fuselage midsection on a hump. two turboshaft engines are mounted on top of the cabin with spherical air intakes above and behind the cockpit and exhaust ports at the sides of the engines. The long, bus-like body with fixed tricycle landing gear tapers to the nose and rear, with an upswept rear section and rounded nose and stepped-up cockpit. The tail is swept-back with a rather tapered fin with massive rotor on right side. The flats are forward-tapered and low-mounted on leading edge of the fin.

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