SA.342L Gazelle

This page is about the Chinese utility helicopter SA.342L Gazelle. For the French version, see SA.342M Gazelle.

SA.342L Gazelle

SA.342L Gazelle

Description

The SA.342L Gazelle(commonly known as 小羚羊 by the name Gazelle) is a rank Chinese utility helicopter with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Drone Age".

One of the earliest European purchase of Mainland China during the 1980s and their earliest "attack" helicopter that installed ATGMs, the name "gazelle" might not sound threatening, but it can still fight back with its limited payload including ATGMs and pair of rocket pods, as well as machine gun pods.

General info

Flight performance

SA.342L is one of the family of the Gazelle family of light helicopters from France with revised systems for carrying armaments, one of its distinctive feature over other helicopters of its era is the fenestron (covered tail rotor) tail rotor. Since its nature of a light helicopter, players will find Gazelle agile while keeping sufficient top speed for scouting missions and assault mission. But do remember that its nature of a light helicopter- the only payload options are only 57 mm or 70 mm rocket pods, 12.7 mm gun pods and 2 pairs of HJ-8A ATGMs with low speed and relatively low range, so make use of its mobility to sneak into battlefield and delivery some blows onto enemy targets.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 0 m - at sea level)		Max altitude (metres)
	AB	RB
Stock	___	___
Upgraded	___	___

Survivability and armour

Like many utility helicopters, Gazelle does not have any kind of extra protection other than its airframe and windshields, any projectile that flies onto Gazelle will very likely damage parts of the helicopter and even being pilot-sniped with relative ease; the only better news is that Gazelle has self-sealing tanks to at least giving it the chance to save itself from being a fireball in the skies.

Armaments

Suspended armament

The payload options of SA.342L are as follow:

• 34x Type 57-1 rockets
• 14x FS70 rockets
• 2x QJK99-1 12.7 mm gun pod
• 4x HJ-8A ATGM

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in a helicopter, the features of using the helicopter in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Small and agile
• Sufficient camera magnification for co-pilot

Cons:

• Lacks of any form of extra protection
• Very limited weapon options
• Lacks fixed weapons for last ditch self-defense/unprotected targets

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the helicopter in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

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

See also

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

External links

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• other literature.

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