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Harbin Z-5

1965 COLD WAR

History of Harbin Z-5

The once close political relationship between the Soviet Union and China enabled the transfer of military supplies to China. While this includes basic tanks, armored vehicles and small arms, it also includes the air force in the form of interceptors, bombers and helicopters. One such product that ended up in Chinese hands was the Mil Mi-4 family of transport/utility helicopters, which will be manufactured locally under license from available blueprints. Therefore, the Mi-4 will be the Harbin Z-5 in the Chinese inventory.

Between 545 and 575 examples were built under the Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Company label. However, political relations between the two communist countries eventually deteriorated, leading to the Sino-Soviet split of 1960-1989.

The original Mi-4 entered service as a prototype on 3 June 1952 and entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1953. From 1951 to 1979, more than 3,500 examples of this type were produced.

Many such global receivers, including Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Iraq and Poland, have proven to cover most of Asia and parts of the Pacific and Africa. The helicopter uses a conventional rotor approach with a single Shvetsov ASh-82V radial piston engine rated at 1,675 hp. It has a distinctly different exterior styling, with an elevated combat deck, a rounded nose cone assembly and a low cockpit. The empennage is mounted high, and the internal shaft extends from the fuselage to the tail to drive the tail rotor mounted on the finlet.

The landing gear has four legs attached - two at the front of the fuselage and two at the rear of the fuselage. The front legs are equipped with positioning wheels. Production was taken over by the Mir Moscow Helicopter Plant.

The Chinese Z-5 prototype completed and flew for the first time on December 14, 1959. The development delay meant that quantitative serial production did not begin until 1964, and it was only then that the Z-5 was officially adopted by the Chinese military, navy and air force. The Z-5 is a basic unarmed transport with auxiliary cargo handling capabilities. The Chinese variant also reduced possible Soviet foreign sales of their Mi-4, as the Z-5 was also successfully delivered to Chinese Allied customers - mainly Albania with 40 and North Korea with 50.

Overall, the Z-5's design remains the same as the original Soviet product, and is largely identical externally.

In 1966, as the world turned to turboshaft powered helicopters, Harbin began work on a turboshaft powered variant of the Z-5 (Wozhou-5), the Harbin Z-6. This effort was then passed on to the now-established Helicopter Design Institute, which produced a working prototype for testing and made its maiden flight on December 15, 1969. The program suffered lengthy delays, including the upheaval caused by the Cultural Revolution, due to the fatal loss of prototypes and the transfer of production to other locations.

The program was eventually abandoned and only 11 vehicles were completed.

Chinese military Z-5 helicopters, though outdated and old, are believed to be in reserve. However, their capabilities are limited on the modern battlefield and most likely won't go into combat unless absolutely necessary.

Like other utility types, the Z-5 can be fundamentally armed, primarily with machine guns, machine gun pods and light rocket pods or launch rails - this helps to extend the tactical flexibility of the system to some extent as an armed transport tools or means of transport. Become a dedicated gunboat.