Z-9W

This page is about the Chinese attack helicopter Z-9W. For the other version, see Z-9WA.

Z-9W

Z-9W

Description

The Z-9W is a rank Chinese attack helicopter with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Drone Age". It is known in the Chinese community as 海豚 "Haitu" (Dauphin).

One of the ground attack helicopter variant of the AS365 Dauphin which HAIG got license to produce, it was also one of the earliest PLAGF Aviation Corp's dedicated attack helicopter. With a sufficient optical camera and better anti-tank weapons, autocannons, as well as the infamous TY-90 AAMs, the Z-9W can sometimes serve as a makeshift "flying SPAAG" while giving ground vehicles a bad time with its HJ-8 series ATGMs.

The Z-9 itself was a licensed variant of the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, the overall appearance of Z-9W is mostly identical to the AS365 while players will notice a ball camera below the nose and this is indeed the major difference; the W in this case means 武装 (Wuzhaung; armed) where the camera serves as the tracking device for ATGMs and scouting operations.

General info

Flight performance

The main usage of the Z-9 is for transport while its airframe does support armed operations to some extent, it is noticeably larger than its predecessors while the overall mobility is sufficiently enough to sneak through terrains and strike enemies from the back and scouting for the team, sometimes dodging aerial assaults from enemies and fire back any offensive weapons onboard.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 1,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)
	AB	RB
Stock	___	___
Upgraded	___	___

Survivability and armour

A very bad news for the Z-9W is that, due to its design as a transport helicopter, there is no protection between the pilots other than the windshield or airframe skins. Like its tech-tree predecessors, any projectile that penetrates the airframe is more than enough to knock out the crew with ease. Although it has a self-sealing tank, the Z-9W is still very likely to burn before it has a chance to fly back to its airbase or for the fire to stop by itself.

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)

Suspended armament

The Z-9W can be outfitted with the following ordnance presets:

• 36 x Type 57-1 rockets
• 2 x 12.7 mm QJK99-12.7-1 machine guns (1,000 rpg = 2,000 total)
• 2 x HJ-8A missiles
• 14 x Type 90-1 rockets
• 4 x HJ-8A missiles
• 4 x HJ-8C missiles
• 4 x TY-90 missiles
• 2 x 23 mm Type 23-1 cannons (240 rpg = 480 total)

Custom loadout options

	1	2
23 mm Type 23-1 cannons (240 rpg)	1	1
12.7 mm QJK99-12.7-1 machine guns (1,000 rpg)	1	1
Type 57-1 rockets	18	18
Type 90-1 rockets	7	7
HJ-8A missiles	2	2
HJ-8C missiles	2	2
TY-90 missiles	2	2

Usage in battles

Players of Chinese helicopters will soon find out that the Z-9W still lacks any form of fixed weapons (only the Z-10 has a belly Type 23L turret), although both 12.7 mm or 23 mm gun pods can be armed alongside with other weaponry, this also means half the firepower of most counterparts in other countries. The upgrade with 23 mm gun pod is better than none since it has way more firepower than the 12.7 mm gun pod. New HJ-8C ATGMs as well as TY-90 AAMs are also good assets for the Z-9W as they give a longer ground engagement range over the HJ-8A (albeit at a bare 500 m more) and the TY-90 is infamous for its extreme manoeuvrability against any aircraft especially at its tier, where even jets with flares are still a prey for the TY-90. Depending on player's needs, custom loadouts with HJ-8s and TY-90s are good for taking down a few enemies before rearming thanks to their sufficient damage to their specified targets, while options with cannons and either ATGMs or AAMs are a good choice between gunning down fixed targets in helicopter EC while taking down SPAAGs/aircraft from a safer distance. Thanks to its ballistic computer, rockets are now a viable option as this will further enhance their overall accuracy, which the earlier helicopters lacked.

Although its payload is not as large as any dedicated attack helicopter and it doesn't have any form of protection other than its airframe and windshield, players could still utilize its mobility to move around and seek for a chance to deliver a blow to enemies, be sure to stay as low as possible and take advantages of the terrains as radars in thi tier are not as good either. Alternatively, the 6 km all-aspect acquisition range of the TY-90 can also turn Z-9W into a "flying SPAAG" and save the team from any aerial strike, sneaking behind enemy lines and strike their aircraft before they do any damage is also viable as well.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Relatively fast top speed
• Decent manoeuvrability
• TY-90 AAMs are very effective against air targets
• Access to tandem HJ-8C missiles

Cons:

• Lacks of fixed self-defense measures such as fixed guns and flares
• No thermal optics unlike its predecessor Z-11WA
• Very little armour

History

The overall detail for the purchase of the license for AS365 is yet to be determined, HAIG documented that Mainland China done a contract with France on 15 October, 1980. The CKD version of the Z-9 was then passed for commission in 1983 and first shown during the 1987 Paris Airshow along with other aircraft of HAIG, later versions of the Z-9 passed for certifications in 1989, but it was only 1993 when HAIG finally built the fully domestic version of Z-9B. Since then, the Z-9 has been one of the major forces of the PLA helicopter corps with many different variants for both PLAGF and PLAN, as well as PAP (People's Armed Police; 武警); PLAGF first modified some Z-9s into Z-9G standards with the required guidance equipment for ATGM as well as other armaments on the sides, while the later Z-9W installed upgraded electronics and retained the same firepower as its predecessor.

The Z-9W is also the base for later Z-9WA with better avionics and payload thanks to revised pylons that were built into the airframe instead of bolted onto the airframe.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the helicopter;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (哈尔滨飞机工业(集团)有限责任公司 )
Jet Bombers	H-5*
Helicopters
Z-9	Z-9W · Z-9WA
Z-19	Z-19 · Z-19E
	*Unlicensed and modified copy of the IL-28.

China helicopters
Attack/Utility	Z-9W · Z-9WA · Z-10 · Z-11WA · Z-19 · Z-19E
	␗OH-58D (USA)
Attack	␗AH-1W (USA)
Utility	SA.342L Gazelle (France)
Pakistan	▄Mi-35M