New Chinese Z-10ME-II Attack Helicopters Take Centre Stage in Pakistani Live Fire Drills

Defence affairs ~ DG-ISPR

The Pakistan Army Aviation Corps has deployed newly procured Chinese Z-10ME-II attack helicopters to participate in the Raad ul Fatah combined arms firepower exercises, marking the aircraft’s debut and allowing them to demonstrate their considerable close air support capabilities.

Staged at the Tilla Firing Ranges in Jhelum, the aircraft flew alongside the Army’s Cold War era U.S.-supplied AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters in coordinated live-fire profiles, in what was described as a full-spectrum firepower display. The Z-10 was procured as a direct replacement for the AH-1F, with the delivery of the aircraft first confirmed in July. The Z-10ME-II is a significantly enhanced variant of a helicopter design that first entered service in 2009, and integrates a new WZ-16 engine which improves its flight performance and its endurance. The variant can carry up to 16 HJ-10 anti-tank missiles, with this expanded weapons carrying capacity the gap in firepower with heavier American and Russian designs such as the AH-64 Apache and Mi-28.

Chinese armaments have gained growing prestige in Pakistan, with their most high profile recent success being J-10C fighters’ reported shootdowns of between one and four Indian Air Force Rafale fighters during clashes in early May 2025, causing a major a public relations disaster for the Rafale program. A lighter and less costly counterpart to the J-10C, the JF-17 Block III, is currently being procured in significant numbers. Pakistani aerial warfare capabilities have further been strengthened by recent procurements of HQ-9 and HQ-16 long and medium range air defence systems, which provide the country with a capable surface-to-air missile capability for the first time. Further new procurements of Chinese aircraft and surface-to-air missile systems are currently reported to be under consideration, including KJ-600 airborne early warning and control systems, HQ-19 anti-ballistic missile systems, and J-35 fifth generation fighters.