Chinese Media Touts World Leading New Missile For Z-10 Attack Helicopters

Chinese state media outlet the Global Times has touted the successful testing of a new helicopter launched air to ground missile, with the yet unnamed new munition fired in Alxa in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region near the end of June. The Times cited an unnamed official stating that: “In the whole world, [the missile] is in a leading position,” and attested to its very high precision against faraway targets. The missile is thought to have a very long range, high precision, and a powerful penetrative warhead likely designed to counter enemy battle tanks. The induction of the new missile into service notably follows the success of China’s HJ- series of anti tank missiles, with the HJ-12 considered by many analysts to be the most capable in the world.

The new missile’s development comes as part of a larger trend of China’s military industries taking world leading positions in a growing number of fields. Attack helicopters notably remain a field in which China lags behind competition from Russia and the United States, with new variants of the Russian Ka-52 and Mi-35 far outperforming the Chinese Z-10, and even the older American Apache boasting significant advantages over the lighter Chinese aircraft. The Z-10 design has continued to be enhanced, with new variants boasting improved millimetre-wave fire control radars and superior endurance allowing them to carry more missiles over longer distances. A new attack helicopter class, likely considerably heavier, is expected to be unveiled some time in the coming decade, and could be optimised for both maritime and high altitude operations to meet the needs of the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the Himalayan border regions.