Armed helicopters debut in joint exercise (1/4)

China′s Z-19 and Z-10 military helicopters debut in the “Peace Mission-2014” joint anti-terrorism military exercise held by the armed forces of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states in an airport in north China on August 20, 2014. (GMW/Qian Xiaohu and Zhou Ming)

The Z-19 is an attack helicopter developed by Harbin Aircraft Industry Group for the People's Liberation Army Air Force and the Ground Force Air Force. It is an up-gunned variant of the Harbin Z-9 and hence a distant cousin of the Eurocopter Dauphin.

The Z-10 is an attack helicopter developed by China. It is designed primarily for anti-tank missions but has secondary air-to-air capability as well. Nicknames of characters in the Chinese classic novel Water Margin was used to name Z-10 and its smaller comrade Harbin Z-19; Z-10 is named as Fierce Thunderbolt, the nickname of Qin Ming, while Z-19 is named as Black Whirlwind, the nickname of Li Kui.