Harbin Z-19
| Z-19 | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Harbin Z-19 making a low-level pass at Zhuhai Airshow 2012 | |
| Role | Reconnaissance and attack helicopter |
| Manufacturer | Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation |
| First flight | 2011 |
| Introduction | 2012 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary user | People's Liberation Army Air Force |
| Number built | 80 as of 1/11/2014 |
| Developed from | Harbin Z-9W |
The Harbin Z-19, also called WZ-19, is a Chinese reconnaissance/attack helicopter developed by Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (HAMC) for the People's Liberation Army Air Force and the Ground Force Air Force. It is built using components of the Harbin Z-9 which is a licence built version of the Eurocopter Dauphin.
The Z-19 is an updated modified version of the Harbin Z-9W (similar to the development of Bell AH-1 Cobra from UH-1). It is a twin-seat tandem helicopter using commercial components from the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin series as the Z-9 series which are licence-built versions of the Dauphin.
The Z-19 features a fenestron tail, damping its sound and therefore allows it achieve some level of acoustic stealthiness. The exhausts also protect the helicopter from infrared threats. The helicopter is installed with a millimeter wave (MMW) fire control radar.
The Z-19 also features armor platings, crash resistant seats, and a turret with FLIR, TV, and laser range finder. Z-19 is also equipped with advanced helmet mounted sight (HMS), which looks different from that of WZ-10.
General designer of the WZ-19 was Wu Ximing (吴希明) of the 602nd Research Institute, one of the Chinese top scientists involved in the 863 Program, after graduating from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1984. Wu had earlier participated in the designs of the armed version of transport helicopters Z-8A, Z-11 and WZ-9. He also participated in the development and flight testing of another Chinese attack helicopter CAIC WZ-10. At the 9th Zhuhai Airshow held in November 2012, Aviation Industry Corporation of China formally announced the official names of WZ-10 and WZ-19 at a televised news release conference, with both attack helicopters are named after the nicknames of fictional characters in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. WZ-10 is named as Fiery Thunderbolt (Pi Li Huo, 霹雳火), the nickname of Qin Ming, while WZ-19 is named as Black Whirlwind (Hei Xuan Feng, 黑旋风), the nickname of Li Kui.
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