Chinese military equips all ground forces with advanced attack copters

China’s military has equipped all of its ground forces with advanced WZ-10 combat helicopters, which will be used to target battle tanks and air-to-air combat missions, a strategic move which could have implications for India.

Several WZ-10s have been delivered to an aviation brigade of the PLA’s 13th Group Army under the Western Theatre Command, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) TV news channel reported. This means that all of the Army’s aviation units now have this advanced attack helicopter, state-run China 

Daily reported.

Senior Colonel Xu Guolin, deputy chief of the PLA Army’s Aviation Equipment Bureau, told the news channel that all of the group armies will have at least one aviation brigade  or regiment.

The helicopter was designed primarily for anti-tank missions, but now has a secondary air-to-air combat capability. Wu Peixin, an aviation analyst in Beijing, said the PLA Army now has a strong force of dedicated combat helicopters thanks to the service of the WZ-10 and WZ-19, another attack helicopter that is less powerful than the WZ-10.

“The Army now needs more medium-lift, multipurpose helicopters such as the US Army’s Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk,” he said.