“China Aviation News” recently reported that a Z-8 helicopter variant had completed the plateau combat test: “This plateau combat test flight took more than three months, and conducted test flights in two areas, Gonghe (3000 meters above sea level) and Golmud West Beach (4600 meters above sea level).” This variant is presumably Z-8L wide-body helicopter – a Z-8L photo with “八一” emblem was unveiled last year. Completing the plateau combat test indicates that Z-8L wide-body helicopter’s design is about to be finalized and the new variant of Z-8 helicopter is entering service.
Z-8 series helicopter is a major transport helicopters of the Chinese army, but according to military expert Xiao Feizhu, its disadvantage is that the cargo compartment is narrow, so that it cannot accommodate China’s domestic Shanmao (Bobcat) high mobility tactical vehicles, while the latter is the main battlefield maneuvering tool of the Chinese army’s light-weight synthetic battalion.
In this case, Z-8L wide-body variant was developed. It has a widened cargo compartment based on Z-8 helicopter so that Bobcat high mobility tactical vehicles can directly drive into its cargo compartment, thereby improving the helicopter’s battlefield delivery capability.
According to relevant information, China Army Aviation Corps proposed a wide body of Z-8 in 2017, and the relevant units completed its design and issued the drawings in the same year. The first prototype was trial-produced, and the first flight was successfully made at the end of 2017.
Z-8L wide-body helicopter was developed according to the description of “design, produce, and first flight in the same year”. So the changes on Z-8 wide-body helicopter don’t seem to be a lot. The structure has been modified, while the engine, rotor, etc. continue to use those of Z-8G helicopters, including WZ-6C turboshaft engine.
So the modification work is done fast, but the improvement of the helicopter load performance is relatively limited. And it is necessary to increase the engine power to increase the maximum take-off weight of the helicopter to increase its load.
Therefore, the future development direction of the Z-8L wide-body helicopter may be to equip a more powerful engine to improve the helicopter’s load capacity, and the first step would be installing a new domestic turboshaft engine. The takeoff power of this engine would be 1600KW, and it could be increased to 2000KW by improving the compressor. In this way, the maximum take-off weight of Z-8L wide-body helicopter could be increased to 20 tons and the load can reach 6 or more. These indicators can already be comparable to the US CH-53A heavy helicopter, which is considered an entry-level heavy helicopter.
As for future development, the Chinese military could continue to enlarge Z-8L wide-body helicopter according to the mode of CH-53A to CH-53E/K. It is reported that a 5000KW turboprop engine is being developed by China. According to the convention that the turboprop/turboshaft engine is not divided, this type of 5000KW turboprop engine can also be developed into a 5000KW turboshaft engine, and the power of the T-408 turboshaft engine on CH-53K heavy helicopter is only 5600KW. If the Sino-Russian heavy helicopter isn’t going well, this type of engine could be used to develop China’s domestically produced three-engine heavy helicopters.
