Did China steal Apache Attack Helicopter Technology?

The AH-64 was built by McDonnell Douglas and later that company was acquired by Boeing. No Foreign Military Sale of the AH-64 has been made from the US directly to China but there is an interesting picture of what appears to be one in China.

Lots of countries do operate them, Taiwan, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Egypt etc. it’s possible that China has recovered one from an accident site in the Middle East. China also seems to have produced a similar product also like everything else they replicate. Japan also has an attack helicopter that looks like a cross between a Cobra and an Apache.

Z-10 Attack Helicopter

An image has emerged on Chinese social media showing what appears to be a new air-to-surface missile (ASM) being fired from a Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation (CAIC) Zhishengji-10 (Z-10) attack helicopter, suggesting that the missile is either in service with, or being trialled by, the aviation units of the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF).

The image, which appears to be a screengrab from footage by the state-owned China Central Television 13 (CCTV 13) channel, shows that the weapon is somewhat similar in appearance to the China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) Blue Arrow 21 (BA-21), a copycat American Hellfire missile that was displayed at the Airshow China 2018 defence exhibition in Zhuhai.

Egyptian Army’s operation againts militant in Sinai.

Clashes intensified in Egypt’s North Sinai early Wednesday, August 8, 2012, as Egyptian armed forces launched air strikes with AH-64 helicopters on Sinai militants in response to a series of attacks by masked gunmen on military checkpoints. Egyptian Army Apache helicopters fired rockets at armed militants and there were numerous militant casualties, said Gen. Ahmed Bakr, head of North Sinai security.

“The Egyptian engineer’s armed forces brigades arrived with heavy machinery, bulldozers, cranes that arrived on flatbeds trucks and some equipment has been transported by planes. The operation’s objective is (to) block all tunnels used to smuggle illegal products and humans into Gaza. The actual work has not started yet, but they are in the planning process,” Bakr said Tuesday, August 7, 2012.

“We have succeeded in entering Touma, killed 20 terrorists and destroyed three armoured cars belonging to terrorists. Operations are still ongoing,” Egyptian officials told Reuters.

The Egyptian military also carried out helicopter attacks around an area called Sheikh Zuwaid just east of al-Arish, security officials said.

It’s possible that Egyptian has lost one of their Apache and other equipment during this operation in Sinai, later terrorist group sold the Apache to China.

The Harbin Z-20 is a medium-lift utility helicopter which first flew on 23 December 2013. This 10-ton class helicopter can operate at locations up to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) altitude, as well as from the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning. It is thought to be comparable to the US-made Sikorsky UH 60 Black Hawk helicopter, the civilian Sikorsky S-70 C-2 variant of which has been used by the PLA since 1984. Design copying is clearly visible.

Clearly Chinese have mastered the art of stealing aircraft and weapons designs. They have used Chinese Diaspora, financial inducements and cyber attacks. Many Soviet aircraft and systems designers for induced to move to China with drawings when Soviet Union was collapsing in 1991. China has thrown intellectual property rights to the winds, and the worst has been on aircraft design stealing.

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