China could find itself in a very advantageous position and “unwittingly” could sell its Z-10ME attack helicopters to Pakistan because of the deteriorating relations between Washington and Ankara, BulgarianMilitary.com has learned.

According to official reports from the Pakistani Ministry of Defense, a deal to buy 30 ATAK-2 helicopters from Turkey has failed due to the US refusal to issue an export license for the engines that power Turkish aircraft.

The events that led to this led Islamabad to turn to Beijing and ask for an offer to buy the Chinese Z-10ME attack helicopter, which is the equivalent of both the Turkish ATAK-2 and the Boeing’s AH-64 Apache.

Turkey lost a deal with Pakistan for nearly $ 1.5 billion, and now that amount is likely to be diverted to China. The irony, in this case, is that two NATO members have not reached an agreement and will thus allow an “enemy of the United States” to sell its ωεɑρσռs system.

BulgarianMilitary.com reminds you that Turkey received economic sanctions for refusing to abandon the deal to buy Russian S-400 anti-aircraft systems. In addition, Washington expelled Ankara from the fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter program at a time when the Turks had ordered nearly 100 fighter jets and their pilots were training in the United States.

CAIC Z-10 helicopter

The Chinese helicopter CAIC Z-10 made its first test flight in 2003 and was officially presented to the world in 2012. Significantly new product CAIC Z-10 is in service in the Chinese army, and so far a little over 150 units have been produced.

The model that China offers to Pakistan – Z-10ME is the latest product in this category, which was updated in 2018. Z-10ME already has active and passive countermeasures, missile systems, radar warning receivers.

The helicopter has updated armored panels, reduced infrared signal thanks to new exhaust nozzles and their changed degree of decay, as well as new filtering systems. The engine of the Z-10ME reaches a power of 1200 kW.

The armament of the Z-10ME is similar to that of the CAIC Z-10, but after the upgrade, the helicopter was able to transport and use more ammunition, application panels, infrared silencer, and brand new development of IFF interrogator.