50 Years of Development: China's Helicopter Industry Integrates into the Aviation Industry Chain
On October 18th, at the 2009 China Helicopter Development Forum, it was learned that China’s helicopter industry has now established a complete R&D, testing, production, and service system. A series of product configurations have been formed, integrating into the international aviation industry chain, laying a good foundation for accelerating the industrial development of helicopters.
After more than 50 years of development, China’s helicopter industry has gone through stages of patent introduction, cooperative development, and independent research and development. It currently owns over 30 types of products based on platforms such as Z-8, Z-9, and Z-11 helicopters. A relatively comprehensive product series from 1-ton to 13-ton capacity has been developed, with nearly a thousand helicopters delivered in total. Among these, the AC312 and AC301 civilian helicopters have successively obtained type certification and production licenses from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
To support the construction of the national aviation emergency rescue system, under the strong support of relevant national ministries including the General Office of the State Council for Emergency Management, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and Civil Aviation Administration of China, the 2009 China Helicopter Development Forum and Helicopter Emergency Rescue Drill, co-hosted by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and the People's Government of Tianjin Municipality, was held today in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin.
The purpose of this forum is to enhance public awareness of the rapid and effective use of helicopters during emergencies. It also aims to fully demonstrate the capabilities and roles of helicopters in emergency rescue processes, promoting the development of China's aviation emergency rescue system. To accelerate the development of civilian helicopters meeting emergency rescue needs, AVIC is independently researching or cooperatively developing new 1-ton class AC310 civilian helicopters, 2-ton class AC301A civilian helicopters, 6-ton class AC352 civilian helicopters, 13-ton class AC313 civilian helicopters, and preparing to develop heavy civilian helicopters. These models will further improve the spectrum of domestically produced civilian helicopters, meeting various emergency rescue tasks such as earthquake relief, forest fire prevention, urban firefighting, maritime search and rescue, and urgent medical rescue. Meanwhile, AVIC will overcome technical challenges, adapting to China's high-altitude and high-temperature geographical climate characteristics, enhancing the reliability and adaptability of helicopters in high-temperature and high-altitude environments.
Domestically produced helicopters can meet most of the demands of the national aviation emergency rescue system. The Z-8 is China’s self-designed and developed largest helicopter in Asia, and one of the few helicopters in the world that can land and take off on water without emergency floating pontoons. It is widely used in personnel and cargo transportation, air-dropping, search and rescue, disaster relief, and forest firefighting, successfully completing numerous transport, rescue, and material delivery missions. The AC312 helicopter is a typical result of introducing, digesting, absorbing, and innovating technology, being a self-developed civilian helicopter. It is widely applied in mobile transportation, hoisting operations, police enforcement, search and rescue, forest fire prevention, and urgent medical aid. The AC301 is a self-developed helicopter with independent intellectual property rights, widely used in police enforcement, customs anti-smuggling, communication command, and urgent medical aid. Domestically produced helicopters have successfully completed various challenging tasks in major events such as Wenchuan earthquake relief, Beijing Olympics, National Day military parade, polar scientific expeditions, Hong Kong return celebration, and Gulf of Aden escort missions. Their superior performance has been tested under various harsh conditions, fully demonstrating the irreplaceable role of helicopters in handling emergencies and proving that domestically produced helicopters are fully capable of shouldering the important task of national aviation emergency rescue.