Pakistan to buy Chinese Z-10 attack helicopters amid delays in T129 deal with Turkey

Asia-Pacific, News January 6, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Pakistan has confirmed that it will procure the Chinese-built Z-10 attack helicopter amid delays in the T-129 helicopter deal with Turkey.

“As far as the Turkish [T129] deal is concerned, we have moved on,” Pakistan armed forces spokesperson Major General Babar Iftikhar said on Wednesday during a press briefing. He also confirmed that Pakistan is negotiating with the Chinese for Z-10ME helicopters. “Hopefully we will be getting some gunships from them [Chinese]” said the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

While China remains Pakistan’s leading defense partner, the country was looking to diversify options by acquiring the Turkish Aerospace T-129 and Bell AH-1Z Viper to replace its aging fleet of AH−1F Cobra gunships. Z-10ME was described as a “suitable option” for Pakistan armed forces amid delays in the deals with the Turkish and the Americans.

Why Pakistan canceled the deal with Turkey?

Islamabad ordered 12 AH-1Zs under the United States foreign military sales process in 2015, and three years later placed a $1.5 billion order for 30 Turkish Aerospace T129 ATAK (Attack and Tactical Reconnaissance Helicopters). However, both deals never materialized mainly due to political issues. Turkish defense officials earlier hinted that the delay at the Turkish side was not due to technological or commercial issues but “purely political reasons”.

*^{The upgraded version of the T129 Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopter. (Image Credit: IHA)}*

The T129 is a twin-engine multirole attack helicopter, jointly manufactured by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and Italian-British company AgustaWestland. It is powered by two LHTEC T800-4A turboshaft engines – jointly developed by the American firm Honeywell and the British company Rolls-Royce.

The Pakistan-Turkey deal remained in limbo since 2018 because of U.S. hesitancy to issue export licenses for the engine despite the U.S. issuing a similar license to Turkey for the export of the same helicopter to the Philippines in 2021. Another reason that the U.S. did not issue the export license for Pakistan was based on concerns that the T129 could add to Pakistan’s ground attack capability against India, with which the U.S. has been deepening defense relationships.

In January 2022, Pakistan finally announced to cancel the deal with Aerospace Industries (TAI) after a couple of extensions and decided to procure the Chinese Z-10ME attack helicopters.