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People's Liberation Army Ground Force Aviation

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People's Liberation Army Army Air Corps
中国人民解放军陆军军航空兵
Flag of the People's Liberation Army Ground FOrce
Active1987–present
CountryChina
BranchArmy
TypeArmy aviation
Size? personnel
1040+ aircraft
Part of People's Liberation Army
Aircraft flown
Attack helicopterHarbin Z-19, Changhe Z-10
Cargo helicopterMil Mi-17
Multirole helicopterHarbin Z-9, Harbin Z-20
Utility helicopterChanghe Z-8, Changhe Z-18, Mil Mi-17
ReconnaissanceBZK-005, BZK-007, WZ-7 Soaring Dragon
TransportY-7, Y-8, Y-9

The PLA Army Air Corps is the air arm of the People's Liberation Army's Ground Force. Its principal mission is to provide close air support, air assault, transportation, and overall air assistance to the land forces of the PLA. It deploys primarily rotary wing aircraft.[1]

History

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The PLA Army Aviation Corps was established on October 3, 1986, by decision of the Central Military Commission, at the time under the leadership of its chairman Deng Xiaoping, as part of an effort to modernize the organization of the PLA. The Corps started operating in 1987. On January 8, 1988, the first army aviation unit was established in the Beijing Military Region.

The initial units of the army aviation corps used equipment transferred from the PLAAF, including mostly the first Chinese-made helicopter, the Harbin Z-5 (a version of the Mil Mi-4), the licensed-made Z-8 (a version of the French Aérospatiale SA 321 Super Frelon) and the American-made S-70C "Black Hawk" purchased during the Sino-American thaw of the 1980s. The success of the American attack helicopters during the Gulf War impressed the Chinese military command, which put more emphasis on the development of indigenous helicopters. This accelerated program would lead to the introduction in 1994 of the Harbin Z-9 (developed from the French Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin), the Harbin Z-19 (an armed variant of the Z-9, introduced in 2012), the medium attack Changhe Z-10 (introduced in 2012), and the medium utility helicopter Harbin Z-20 (generally based on the Black Hawk in configuration, introduced in 2019).

The progress of the local helicopter industry, however, was slow. The difficulty providing relief after the Wenchuan Earthquake of 2008 brought into clear relief the shortage of helicopters in China, both civilian and military, in particular helicopters capable of operating at high altitudes. The need for more helicopters became apparent and the procurement of military rotary wing aircraft accelerated. While the native Z-19 and Z-10 were already available, the Chinese government tried to accelerate the equipment of full brigades by purchasing a large number of Mil Mi-17 helicopters in 2019, a sign of its desire to accelerate the development of army aviation.[2]

Organization

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By 2013, the army aviation regiments in six military regions were ungraded to brigades. After the 2015 military reforms, the military regions were merged into theaters and each group army within each theater was intended to have an independent Army Aviation brigade.

As of 2023, each of the 13 PLAGF group armies, plus the Tibet and Xinjiang special military regions, had an aviation brigade, for a total of 13 army aviation brigades and 2 air assault brigades. Each army aviation brigade is composed of 2–3 attack helicopter battalions, and 3–4 transport and assault helicopter battalions, for a total of 32 to 48 attack helicopters and 48 to 64 transport helicopters.[3] The estimated current number of available aircraft runs between 1,000 and 1,500, depending on the source.

The current army aviation units are as follows, the brigade number being usually the same as the group army's number.

The Beijing Garrison, plus the Macao and Hong Kong Garrisons, are the only major regional subdivisions of the PLA without an attached army aviation brigade (although smaller helicopter units are available).

Equipment

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Further information: List of active People's Liberation Army aircraft
Aircraft Origin Type Variant In service Notes
Attack Helicopters
Harbin Z-19 China attack helicopter/reconnaissance Z-19WZ 120+[4]
Changhe Z-10 China Attack/Multirole WZ-10 200+[4]
Utility Helicopters
Harbin Z-9 China Utility 120+[4]
Mil Mi-17 Russia Utility 88[4]
Transport Helicopters
Changhe Z-8 China Heavy Transport Y-8A/B/L 135[4]
Mil Mi-17 Russia Medium Transport 140[4]
Sikorsky S-70 United States Medium Transport 19[4]
Harbin Z-20 China Medium Transport 150[4]
Eurocopter EC120 Colibri France Light Transport 15[4]
Changhe Z-11 China Light Transport 53[4]
Fixed-Wing Transports
Xian Y-7 China transport 2[4]
Shaanxi Y-8 China Tactical transport 2[4]
Shaanxi Y-9 China Transport 2[4]
Unmanned aerial vehicle
BZK-007[4] China MALE UAV
Harbin BZK-005[4] China MALE UAV
CASC CH-4B[4] China HALE UAV

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Zhang, Dehe (2013). The PLA Army Aviation Corps. Series of Chinese army (English ed.). Beijing: China Intercontinental Press. ISBN 978-7-5085-2484-9. OCLC 884478388.
  2. ^ GDC (2020-09-25). "Why did China buy Russian Mi-171sh helicopter when it has Z-10?". Global Defense Corp. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  3. ^ "就这么威猛豪横！15个陆航旅，直升机规模近1500架，仅次于美军|阿帕奇_网易订阅". 2021-04-30. Archived from the original on 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2024-05-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p The International Institute for Strategic Studies 2024, p. 256.

Sources

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  • The International Institute for Strategic Studies (13 February 2024). The Military Balance 2024. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-032-78004-7.Zhang, Dehe. (2013) The PLA Army Aviation Corps (Series of Chinese Army) (English Edition) (p. 1). China Intercontinental Press. Kindle Edition. ISBN 978-7-5085-2484-9
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