China's newly unveiled attack helicopter, the WZ-10, can functionally perform as well as America's AH-64 Apache ,and with better maneuverability than the latter, making it more suitable for China's air defense, a Party delegate at the ongoing 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China told China.org.cn in an exclusive interview yesterday in Beijing.

Lin Zuoming, president of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), said that the WZ-10, which officially conducted low-altitude adaptive flying exercises at its debut at the Zhuhai Airshow one day before, has no big differences with the AH-64 Apache except for its takeoff weight. The WZ-10's takeoff weight is about six tons, four tons lighter than the AH-64.

In spite of lighter takeoff weight or bomb load, the WZ-10 has better maneuverability and, thus is more suitable for protecting China's complicated topography, which features a lot of hills and mountainous areas, Lin said. He noted that the WZ-10, nicknamed "Thunderbolt" meets world class standards in every functional aspect.

As for the WZ-19 attack helicopter nicknamed "Black Hurricane" which debuted the same day, Lin said that it along with the WZ-10 is an important weapon for China's mechanized and informationized national defense system as well as for its land forces.

Lin added that the two helicopters are designed for enhancing China's firepower at different altitudes and taking control of the high altitude defense for the country's land forces.

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