AH-64D appears in China

The Aviationist has pictures of what appears to be a fully intact AH-64D on a flatbed truck in China. Interestingly it's not covered at all, like similar helicopter moves have been. So it's not clear if it's a mockup or an actual Apache. If it's a mockup however, the small details down to the clarity of the canopy are pretty good.

It's possible that one of the ones downed in Iraq was captured intact and given to them, although the Army claims they were all destroyed after being downed.

Is this going to be the next attack helicopter out of China? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

theaviationist.com...

That is truly worrisome. It sure looks real. If it's a mock-up, it's a good one. Let's hope they didn't get the avionics.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Wow!

good find dude,

one thing that I can't help but think though, surly if the Chinese has somehow bought a downed AH64 they would not move it around on the back of a flat bed with out putting a cover over it.

reply to post by Zaphod58


It is an aging design and the technology is no longer cutting edge, most attack choppers are an anachronism anyway, they serve a good support role but even the out of date Harrier was far more lethal and could perform almost the same role with the added advantage of being one hell of a lot faster and therefore more deployable.

Next gen VTOL are the way to go and drone's will perform more than 90 percent of missions anyway though there VI software is not yet dependable or dynamic enough in the event of operator control being compromised by blocking.

Next generation anti Aircraft infantry launched missiles far smaller and man portable than the aging patriot are also destined to relagate these to the museum's of military history.

www.youtube.com...

Not as extensive in the armemant capacity but smaller and lighter though more expensive as you can have two longbow for the same price, Still I think if the SA army and airforce had been involved in Afghanistan they would have minced the Taliban back down there hole's, with these capable little beauty's.

Still FFAR's are a little outdated for a new chopper.

I would not worry about the chinese having one though, except for updated software sweet's and electronics it is now a very old air frame and put those same upgrades on an MI-28H Havoc and you have something terrifying.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


That's one of the reasons why the question is raised of it being a mock up. But if it is it's amazingly accurate.

reply to post by Zaphod58


More pics here, but same angle though.

www.defence.pk...

Possible Chinese movie prop.?

reply to post by Sammamishman


movie prop

that was going to be my next thought

Just an observation, but when I'v see these threads pop up I'm always pretty certain that Zaphod58 posted it You're the Aircraft Projects forum God.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


I thought at first it might have been a pic of a Taiwanese AH64D but the one pic on the above mentioned site has a Cady with a Chinese plate on it.
That also raised another question....Since the Taiwan government is semi pro-Chinese maybe they had a little exchange with the Chinese, since they are the only ones outside of the US that I know that bought and operate them. Taiwan is just a stones throw from main land China.
If true this would be a huge scandel for the current standing Taiwanese gov.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I would have to say movie prop. And it looks more like the standard Apache than a "D" model. Also the tail wheel is missing and there is no warping of the skin, which would indicate a downed bird. I'm not seeing any damage to it whatsoever. No bullet holes or indication of a fire on board.

However, I'd like to see closer pics.

I've been on the reaction force plenty of times and we got spun up to recover everything from downed aircraft, Helicopters, Drones and even the Aerostat that one time that broke free of it's tether. That was a fun one as it was drifting towards Iran. LOL

Maybe they're filming "Blue Dawn"? you know, where America invades China and the young Chinese kids take up arms.

Sammamishman
reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin

 

I thought at first it might have been a pic of a Taiwanese AH64D but the one pic on the above mentioned site has a Cady with a Chinese plate on it.
That also raised another question....Since the Taiwan government is semi pro-Chinese maybe they had a little exchange with the Chinese, since they are the only ones outside of the US that I know that bought and operate them. Taiwan is just a stones throw from main land China.
If true this would be a huge scandel for the current standing Taiwanese gov.

Nice! That hadn't occurred to me.

And it happens all the time. That's how the US military gets a lot of their opposing forces hardware after all.

reply to post by TDawgRex


The one that was down in Iraq in 2003 landed almost completely intact with very little damage. It was supposedly shot down by a farmer, but all the pictures of it showed very little if any damage. It looked more like it had a mechanical problem and they landed in the field. There are a couple pictures of it with people around it, weapons hanging on the pylons, but little if any damage.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I'm thinking that if it is a actual AH-64, then Sammon hit the nail on the head. It was sold to them through a third party.

I didn't know that Egypt had M1's or Apaches either until I saw them on TV during their riots.

I knew they had M60A3's and MH-6's, but that caught me by surprise.

reply to post by Zaphod58


It's a mock up.

The steps aren't there.

The fairings for the avionics and engines aren't there. The fuel system enclosure panel isn't there.

Hell even what can be seen of what appears to be a dismantled rotor heard isn't there. There's nowhere for the scissor links to connect to.

Edit to add:

Upon further inspection the UES(Upturned Exhaust System) isn't there. It's a pretty prominent feature for them. It's all one solid looking piece without any seams.

reply to post by projectvxn


I can see the steps aren't there, but the rotor assembly looks like it should to me. Most of the rest matches up to what I'm seeing in other pictures however.

Zaphod58
The Aviationist has pictures of what appears to be a fully intact AH-64D on a flatbed truck in China. Interestingly it's not covered at all, like similar helicopter moves have been. So it's not clear if it's a mockup or an actual Apache. If it's a mockup however, the small details down to the clarity of the canopy are pretty good.

It's possible that one of the ones downed in Iraq was captured intact and given to them, although the Army claims they were all destroyed after being downed.

Is this going to be the next attack helicopter out of China? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

theaviationist.com...

here's a picture of an actual on in flight...I notice several differences...do you?
www.army-technology.com...

reply to post by Zaphod58


It does at first glance, but when you pop the rotor head off of one of these there isn't usually something sticking out. The rotor head isn't very large. If they had just removed the blades you could still see the head, and even if they took out the main mast the uniball would still be visible and so would the pc rods and pressure plate assemblies. As well as the scissor links.

reply to post by TDawgRex


Yah, your right other countries use them too, I forgot about Egypt. Of all the users though Taiwan definately has the closest ties with China.
If it did come from Taiwan i'm suprised it isn't covered though.

You can see what i'm talking about in this image of the rotor head.


If they had pulled it off there would still be some of the shaft extention out as well.

www.b-domke.de...

reply to post by Zaphod58


The comments on that link say that the details are a little off. The tail rotors, the bulges on either side of the cockpit, ect...all are a little off. I agree with them too, though my opinion on these matters is crap.

The thing is missing the wing sections for weapons pods and the rear wheel. I am feeling BS on this one