Threat of the Week
WZ-19 (Z-19) Chinese Reconnaissance/Attack Helicopter is a Chinese light scout and observation helicopter. It was locally developed by Harbin.
It was China's attempt to develop a modern and capable helicopter. The whole development program was kept in high secrecy.
The Z-19 is essentially a tandem-seat version of the Z-9W, which in turn is a license-built version of the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin. However,
this helicopter also shares some resemblance with the Japanese OH-1. The Z-19 made its first flight in 2011 and was publicly revealed in 2012.
This helicopter is in service with the Chinese army aviation regiment. It operates alongside the dedicated Z-10 attack helicopter. The Z-19 is lightly armored.
Both pilots are seated on crash-resistant seats. This scout and observation helicopter is equipped with a nose-mounted FLIR, TV, and laser rangefinder.
The Z-19 is an updated modified version of the Harbin Z-9W. 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.
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.
