The Harbin Z-19, also called WZ-19, is a Chinese light reconnaissance/attack helicopter developed by

Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation Harbin Aircraft Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. (HAIG), often shortened to Hafei (), is an aircraft manufacturing company headquartered in Pingfang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang province, China. It was previously called Harbin Aircraft Manufacturin ...

(HAMC) for the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

Air Force and the Ground Force Army Aviation. It is a specialized combat variant of the Harbin Z-9, which is a licence-built version of the Eurocopter Dauphin.

Design and development

The Z-19 is an upgraded tandem seat version of the Harbin Z-9W (similar to the development of the

Bell AH-1 Cobra The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake. The A ...

from the

UH-1 The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...

), using mechanical components derived from the

Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin The Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters) AS365 Dauphin (''Dolphin''), also formerly known as the Aérospatiale SA 365 Dauphin 2, is a medium-weight multipurpose twin-engine helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters. It was originally developed ...

series, as the Z-9 series are license-built versions of the Dauphin helicopters. The Z-19 features a fenestron tail, reducing the noise level and therefore allowing it to achieve some level of acoustic stealthiness. The exhausts have also been designed to reduce the infrared signature. The helicopter is equipped with a millimeter-wave fire-control radar on top of its four-blade rotor. Unlike most other attack helicopters, it lacks a nose-mounted machine gun or autocannon. The Z-19 also features armor plating, crash-resistant seats, and a turret with FLIR, TV, and laser rangefinder. It is also equipped with advanced helmet mounted sight (HMS), which looks different from that of the

CAIC WZ-10 The CAIC Z-10 ( zh, 直-10, "helicopter-10"), also called WZ-10 ( zh, 武直-10, "armed helicopter-10"), is a Chinese medium attack helicopter developed for the People's Liberation Army Ground Force. It is designed primarily for anti-tank warfar ...

. The general designer of the WZ-19 was Wu Ximing (吴希明) of the 602nd Research Institute, one of the Chinese top scientists involved in the 863 Program, after graduating from

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics The Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA, ), colloquially known as Nanhang (南航), is a public research university in Nanjing, China. One of the Seven Sons of National Defence, it is directly supervised by the Ministry of In ...

in 1984. Wu had earlier participated in the designs of the armed version of the transport helicopters Z-8A, Z-11 and WZ-9. He also participated in the development and flight testing of another Chinese attack helicopter, the

. At the 9th Zhuhai Airshow held in November 2012, Aviation Industry Corporation of China formally announced the official names of the WZ-10 and WZ-19 at a televised news release conference, with both attack helicopters named after fictional characters in the '' Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. WZ-10 is named as Fierce Thunderbolt (Pili Huo, 霹雳火), the nickname of Qin Ming, while WZ-19 is named as Black Whirlwind (''Hei Xuanfeng'', 黑旋风), the nickname of Li Kui.

Production

Harbin is developing the Z-19, which is expected to function and support with a heavier attack helicopter, the

, in the near future. Export variants will be designated WZ-19 (''Wǔzhuāng Zhíshēngjī'', 武装直升机 - attack helicopter), but aircraft used in China will be designated Z-19 as WZ is used by the PLAAF for UAVs (WZ - ''Wúrén Zhēnchá'', 无人侦察 (Unmanned Reconnaissance)).

Variants

; Z-19: Original version in the PLAGF service. ; Z-19E: Export version of the Z-19. The first flight occurred on 18 May 2017. A number of countries expressed interest in acquisition.

Operators

; * People's Liberation Army Ground Force

Specifications (Z-19)

References

External links

AirForceWorld.com WZ-19 Attacker Helicopter
{{Chinese Military Aircraft 2010s Chinese attack aircraft Harbin aircraft Military helicopters 2010s Chinese helicopters Fantail helicopters Aircraft first flown in 2011 Twin-turbine helicopters