development was successfully concluded
in 2017 and it will enter service this year.
Development of the Z-20 was
originally closely linked with the Z-10
combat helicopter and it began life as
the China Medium Helicopter (CMH).
It was reportedly planned that both
would share the same propulsion,
gearbox/transmission and rotor systems.
However, due to requirement priorities
and technical issues, it was decided to
give higher priority to the development
of the Z-10, probably above all because
no suitable engine was available as a
replacement for the T700-GE-701A.
The Z-20 transport was therefore put
aside. Its development only restarted
in earnest around 2010, and ultimately
resulted in some signi cant alterations
compared to its Black Hawk ‘ancestor’.
First of all, the Z-20 has a new ve-
bladed main rotor similar to that of the
Z-10. The tail, including the landing gear
and tail rotor, features several noticeable
changes. The front section appears to
be di erent and the hull seems wider,
making the machine somewhat heavier
overall than a S-70. The Z-20 ultimately
su ered from China’s typical ‘propulsion
problem’, since no indigenous engine
of suitable performance is available
in China. Consequently, all current
prototypes are said to use an unknown
interim engine until the nal WZ-10
turboshaft (of approximately 1,800kW) is
ready. Otherwise, the Z-20 shares several
features with other modern transport
helicopters, including a ‘glass’ cockpit,
forward-looking infra-red, a prominent
SATCOM dome on the tail, several cha /
are dispensers on the rear fuselage
and additional sensors (most likely radarwarning, missile approach warning and
laser warning receivers) around the
fuselage and tail.
Following completion of the rst
prototype, numbered ‘20001’, in
December 2012, a maiden ight took
place around a year later on December
23, 2013 — nearly 30 years after China
received its rst Black Hawk.
Not much more is known about the
Z-20 other than that several prototypes
are ying at the China Flight Test
Establishment (CFTE) in Xi’an-Yanliang,
and that cold-temperature tests were
accomplished in February 2015 at Mohe
Gulian, in Heilongjiang province.
The latest reports — from early
2017 — indicate that low-rate initial
production has been initiated and the
rst aircraft were being prepared for
assignment to Army Aviation Brigades
in early 2018. The WZ-10 turboshaft has
reportedly been tested on board a Z-20.
It is planned that the Z-20 will replace
the original S-70C-2 in the long term, as
well as the Mi-17/171. It is thought that
a naval version is planned.
As an interesting side note, the Army
Aviation Corps is currently naming
its helicopter types after some of the
108 outlaws in the classic novel The
Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh.
This story, published in the 14th
century, is probably best compared
to the tale of Robin Hood and tells
how a group of 108 outlaws take
from the rich and give to the poor. As
such, the Z-10 is now known as Fierce
Thunderbolt (Pilihuo), the Z-19 as Black
Whirlwind (Heixuanfeng), and the Z-20
as The Dragon that Enters a Cloud
(Ruyunlong).The Z-20 remains
something of a
mystery. Several
prototypes are
fl ying at the
China Flight Test
Establishment
(CFTE) and
low-rate initial
production began
earlier this year.Sea Eagle, the Z-18J Bat airborne early
warning variant, and a search and rescue
variant for the China Coast Guard.
While these naval models are fairly well
known, the version for the Army Aviation
Corps remained a mystery. Known to
be under test since late 2014, it was
rst labelled Z-18A and has a further
modi ed fuselage with a repro led nose
section similar to that of the Mi-171 or
S-92. It can carry 27 fully armed troops
or 15 stretchers over a range of 800 to
1,000km and is tailored to mountainous
operations up to 8,000m. It is more
powerful and better-suited to operations
in the Tibetan plateaus than the earlier
Z-8B or the Russian Mi-171.
Based on the latest images, this new
version — like the smaller Z-20 —
features a terrain-following radar under
the nose and has a SATCOM dome as well
as Beidou/GPS antennas on top of the tail
boom for long-range communication.
Somewhat surprisingly, it is already
operational within two brigades.A Chinese Black Hawk?
According to the latest reports, 2018 will
also see the introduction of yet another
important type. Besides the sleek J-20A
ghter and the big Y-20 transport,
China has another ‘number 20’ program.
Initiated around the end of the 1990s at
the 602 Institute, Harbin and Changhe,
the Z-20 has been under development
as a new-generation multi-purpose
helicopter in the 10-ton class. In itself not
unusual, this platform is actually based
on the American S-70C-2 Black Hawk,
of which China acquired 24 examples
in 1985, and which is still in PLA service.
The latest reports suggest the Z-20’shttp://www.combataircraft.net // April 2018 25
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