PLA Z-10 Attack Helicopter Prepares for Expanded Maritime Roles

Built to hunt tanks and support ground troops, the People’s Liberation Army’s main attack helicopter is increasingly being prepared for operations at sea.

Crews of the Z-10 are training to fly from ships – a shift that could give Beijing extra firepower in an amphibious assault on Taiwan.

Manufactured by AVIC subsidiary the Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation, the Z-10 entered service with the PLA Army in late 2010. It began documented shipboard trials in 2014, when Chinese navy imagery showed a Z-10 landing on the Baxianshan Type 072A tank landing ship.

The attack helicopter’s maritime role has gradually expanded since then. In 2020, army helicopters practised landing, refuelling and rearming on a civilian semi-submersible.