BEIJING: Having just made its official debut in September, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Z-20T helicopter recently participated in an air assault training and practiced semi-hover maneuvers, according to an official media report on Monday. An expert said this technique is particularly useful in vertical assault operations and urban warfare.
Recently, an army aviation brigade of the 71st Group Army jointly conducted air assault training with neighboring units. Through realistic combat drills and joint exercises, the training honed troops’ coordination and battlefield deployment capabilities, the military channel of China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
According to the report, at a training ground in the eastern part of East China’s Fujian Province, multiple helicopters rapidly ascended and formed into combat formations.
Flying at low and ultra-low altitudes to avoid radar detection, they arrived at the designated pickup zone. The assault troops, concealed in the grass, swiftly embarked. The crew then piloted the helicopters toward the landing zone.
Each helicopter landed with a single wheel on the ground for the air assault, allowing the troops to quickly disembark, establish a perimeter, and conduct observation and security. The helicopters immediately took off afterward and continued flying at low level to exit the area.
The CCTV report described this maneuver as “semi-hover.”
Gu Jian, a member of the brigade, said in the report that “we employed the single-wheel hover method in this air assault training.
This technique lowers the requirement for the flatness of the landing zone, making it better suited for the rugged field conditions in this exercise.
It also more closely mirrors the practical demands of a real battlefield, thereby allowing the army aviation forces to more effectively take advantage of the inherent flexibility and mobility of vertical lift.”
Zhang Xuefeng, a Chinese military affairs expert, said in the CCTV report that this method offers significant advantages in scenarios where the helicopter is heavily affected by terrain and obstacles, preventing a normal, direct landing in the landing zone.
The single-wheel hover landing technique could prove invaluable in vertical assault operations and urban warfare, Zhang said.
The entire operation, from embarkation to the air assault, was conducted in a field environment. During the flight to the objective, the helicopters skimmed over ground and sea surface, and navigating through complex terrains like mountain ridges and ravines, according to the CCTV report.
Participating in the training were Z-20 utility helicopters and Z-20T assault helicopters, the CCTV report footage shows.
Official media reports show that the Z-20T was first unveiled at China’s V-Day military parade in Beijing on September 3. It then for the first time made flight demonstrations at the 7th China Helicopter Exposition held in North China’s Tianjin in October.
Wang Ya’nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times that the Z-20T’s concentrated appearances are an indication that this new type of helicopter has reached technical maturity and is in active service with large numbers. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
