China has created a successful helicopter based on the Russian Mi-28 and the American Black Hawk
China has unveiled a new Z-21 attack helicopter based on its multi-purpose predecessor, the Z-20. The novelty is a kind of “mix” of the American Black Hawk and the Russian Mi-28.
The first flight of the experimental prototype took place in January this year. The helicopter is not yet equipped with weapons, which did not prevent it from undergoing a series of tests with measurement and anti-aircraft missile defense systems. It is expected that the “twenty-first” will be equipped with the powerplant and some structural elements of the Z-20, which are intended to make it a powerful addition to the PLA Z-10 attack helicopter, which is a Chinese clone of the Russian Ka-52 (Project 941).
China’s engineers have created a special version of the Z-20 as a “flying laboratory” to test the technologies used in the new Z-21 attack helicopter. The start of testing of the “twenty-first” may indicate that the technological barriers associated with the development of powerful turbine engines for heavy helicopters have been overcome.
Given that China’s main attack helicopter, the Z-10, has problems with its powerplant in hot temperatures, the creation of a Z-21 helicopter similar to the Russian Mi-28 is strategically important for China.
It is possible that China’s engineers used imported technologies during the development of the Twenty-First, just as they did with the Z-10, which was developed on the basis of the Russian Ka-52.
