China’s domestically produced Z-20 helicopter, touted by Beijing as its answer to America’s Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk for high-altitude operations, was conspicuously absent from the recent disaster relief efforts in Tibet’s Dingri County.
The area was recently devastated by an earthquake that killed over 100 people and injured more than 100. The earthquake prompted a large disaster relief operation by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
However, the largest Singapore-based Chinese-language newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao, reported that the Z-20, despite being specially designed for such highland missions, did not make an appearance in official reports.
Instead, state media outlets, including CCTV News Military Channel, confirmed that the PLA’s helicopter fleet for the disaster response consisted entirely of Russian-made Mi-171 helicopters that have been in use by China for years.
The Mi-171’s inclusion in the rescue mission has led to questions about the readiness and performance of the Z-20 in challenging high-altitude environments like those found in Dingri County, where the average altitude is around 4,500 meters.
The Harbin Z-20 is a Chinese medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group. In recent years, this helicopter has been heavily marketed as an ideal asset for plateau operations.
However, experts suggest that the Z-20’s omission from the disaster response may point to issues with its payload capacity and flight performance at high altitudes, which could have hindered its ability to contribute effectively to rescue efforts.
Su Ziyun, a researcher at Taiwan’s National Defense and Security Research Institute, commented on the absence, stating that it was unusual given the growing focus on domestic military equipment in state media reports.
“In recent years, Chinese mainland state media have paid more and more attention to publicity and reporting on domestic equipment, and participating in earthquake relief should have been a good opportunity to peacefully demonstrate the performance of the Z-20,” he added.
Su Ziyun speculated that the absence of the Z-20 in the operations could be due to the limited number of Z-20 units, and it is more likely that the helicopter may not yet perform optimally when flying with loads at high altitudes. He also noted that there are still technical challenges that need to be addressed.
The Z-20 may still be facing technical and logistical challenges that prevent it from matching the capabilities of older, more established aircraft like the Mi-171, which has a larger interior space and more reliable performance in high-altitude operations.
China’s Z-20 Helicopter
In the past, China relied heavily on Black Hawk helicopters imported from the United States for operations in the high-altitude plateau regions.
During a period of warm relations between China and the West in the 1980s, Beijing made several military purchases from the United States, including more than 20 S-70C-2 helicopters.
This variant of the Black Hawk, which was marketed as a civilian model, stood out for its impressive ability to operate at high altitudes, a feature that caught the attention of Chinese leaders.
China’s own helicopters were unable to effectively complete tasks in such challenging environments, primarily due to the lack of oxygen at high elevations and ongoing technical difficulties with their engines.
However, this period of cooperation was short-lived. The 1989 Tiananmen Square incident led to a halt in arms transfers from both the United States and the European Union to China, effectively cutting off further access to advanced military equipment, including helicopters.
In the aftermath of 1989, China found it increasingly difficult to procure American-made equipment, leading the country to turn to Russia. Over the years, China acquired a large number of Mi-171 helicopters from Russia and today operates over 200 of these choppers.
While the Mi-171s fulfilled some of China’s needs, Beijing remained keen on acquiring more medium-lift transport helicopters to grow its fleet. This desire for greater capabilities led to efforts to reverse-engineer the S-70 Black Hawk starting in the late 1990s.
However, the project faced major problems, particularly in the areas of engine and transmission technology, components that were beyond China’s manufacturing capabilities at the time.
Yet, Beijing was determined to push forward, deeply impressed by the capabilities of the Black Hawk fleet.
In 2013, the first prototype of what would become China’s own high-altitude helicopter, the Z-20, took to the skies. The Z-20 was later unveiled in 2019 during a grand military parade in Beijing, marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. At the time, the Chinese government hailed the Z-20 as one of the world’s best helicopters.
Since then, the Z-20 has reportedly evolved, with claims that it is now capable of undertaking a variety of roles, including attack, anti-submarine, and anti-ship operations. Its integration into both the Chinese Air Force and Naval forces has been closely followed by the state media, which regularly reports on its growing capabilities.
Despite these claims, the Z-20 was originally designed with a primary focus on high-altitude operations, largely due to China’s admiration for US-made helicopters in the past.
The American S-70 Black Hawks had demonstrated their value in various rescue operations and even played a key role during the 1987 India-China standoff.
The PLA was deeply impressed with the S-70’s performance, and this capability was notably missed during the Sichuan earthquake of 2008, which spurred China’s development of the Z-20.
That being said, previous reports have highlighted Z-20’s increasing presence in the Tibet Military District, where it has been stationed to enhance the mobility of army aviation units in the high-altitude areas of the plateau.
In fact, last year, Chinese media reported that the Z-20 was integrated into a specific army aviation brigade in the Tibet Military Region alongside the older Mi-171 helicopters, which were still being used for low-altitude flight training.
Even after these promotional efforts, the Z-20’s absence from recent operations in Tibet raises new questions about its true capabilities. The absence of the Z-20 in recent high-profile operations may indicate that it still requires further refinement before it can fully replace its imported counterparts.
The development also suggests that China’s extensive marketing campaign might have been more of a strategic move than a reflection of the helicopter’s actual readiness for critical missions.
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