Flight International 16Mar2020

DEFENCE

flightglobal.com 10-16 March 2020 | Flight International | 23

VIP operations could

offer rotary a lift

Business Aviation P24

P

akistan could turn to China to

solve its attack helicopter re-

placement need, with US embar-

goes having halted sales of a com-

bined 42 aircraft from Bell and

Turkish Aerospace.

Islamabad in 2015 ordered 12

Bell AH-1Zs via the USA’s

Foreign Military Sales process,

before also completing a 2018

deal to acquire 30 Turkish Aero-

space T129s worth $1.5 billion.

The AH-1Z sale has been on

hold since US President Donald

Trump cut Washington’s security

funding to Pakistan, while export

sanctions related to the US-built

LHTEC T800 engines that power

the T129 ATAK also have forced

the suspension of that contract.

This impasse, and the need to

retire a fleet of 48 AH-1Fs, is push-

Turkish deal was halted due to export ban on type’s T800 engines

Turkish Aerospace

ing Islamabad to consider alterna-

tives, Major General Syed Najeeb

Ahmed, commander, army avia-

tion, told Defence IQ’s Internation-

al Military Helicopter conference

in London on 26 February.

“We are looking at other op-

tions. One of them is in China in

the shape of the new attack

helicopter, the [CAIC] Z-10ME,”

he says. “In case the first two op-

tions do not materialise, this third

option will be considered.”

Pakistan had previously evalu-

ated an earlier version of the Z-10,

but Ahmed says the latest itera-

tion is significantly improved.

Ahmed is extremely doubtful

that the AH-1Z deal can be resur-

rected, and although Turkish

Aerospace is developing an in-

digenous replacement engine for

the T129, he is not confident that

this will be ready in time for

Islamabad’s July deadline.

This urgency is driven by In-

dia’s capability increases. The In-

dian air force already has received

Boeing AH-64Es, and the nation’s

army will also field the type.

“The Cobras are no match for

the Apaches that the Indians are

getting,” Ahmed says. “We want

to match that [capability].” ■

C

hina seems set to reveal a ded-

icated tanker variant of its

Xian Y-20 strategic transport, with

other special mission variants also

suggested to be in development.

“The cargo plane has variants

like the Y-20 aerial tanker and

Y-20 AEW aircraft,” a Global

Times report quotes an air force

aviation regiment commander,

Teng Hui, as saying. “I believe our

Y-20 tanker will make its debut in

the not-too-distant future.”

According to the report, the

dedicated tanker variant will

carry 90t of fuel: three times more

than the adapted Harbin H-6 that

China currently uses in the role.

The suggested AEW-roled ver-

sion could use a conformal radar

array, instead of a more traditional

rotating radome. Other applica-

tions could include electronic

warfare duties, and at the Airshow

China event in 2016 AVIC also re-

vealed a proposal for a commer-

cial version, the Y-20F-100.

Introduced to service in 2016,

and powered by four Russian-

supplied Soloviev D-30KP-2 en-

gines, the Y-20 has featured in the

Chinese military’s delivery of air-

lift support in response to the

coronavirus crisis. Development

continues on an indigenous

Kin Cheung/AP/Shutterstock engine, the Shenyang WS-20. ■

Download the 2020

World Air Forces Report

http://www.flightglobal.com/waf

in association with:

DEVELOPMENT GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE

Beijing fuels speculation of Y-20 tanker derivative

REQUIREMENT DOMINIC PERRY LONDON

Islamabad weighs attack fleet options

With acquisitions of AH-1Zs and T129s halted by US sanctions, Pakistan could launch purchase of Chinese-built Z-10ME

Strategic transport was

introduced to service in 2016