At the sensitive moment when the USS John McCain (DDG 56) guided-missile destroyer crossed the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese military announced the news of the actual launch of the naval aviation anti-ship missiles in the Eastern Theater. Footage of the Z-9D firing the YJ-9 (Yingji-9) missile raises eyebrows.
China’s homemade Z-9D carrier-based helicopter is a ship-based helicopter with anti-ship/anti-submarine as the main task developed on the basis of the home-made Z-9C helicopter. The helicopter was finalized and equipped with the Chinese Navy in 2012. According to public data from airshows, the helicopter is fitted with an improved X-band KLC-3B airborne search radar with a new flat-plate slit antenna that can search up to 180 kilometers for warship targets with a displacement of 3,000 tons or more, and can capture small missile boats and speedboats of 50 tons from more than 60 kilometers away. The Z-9D helicopter uses a detachable curved beam mount that can carry four YJ-9 small anti-ship missiles, or light anti-submarine torpedoes and other weapons.
The first exposure of the Z-9D helicopter was in 2008. The prototype of the helicopter that appeared at that time was Z-9D-002, with missiles hung on the pylons on both sides of the fuselage. The helicopter adopted a brand-new H-425 fuselage and structure. Similar to the Chinese Army Aviation’s Z-9WA gunship, it is also equipped with the Arriel 2C engines imported from France, which is more advanced than the original Z-9C carrier-based helicopter.
The YJ-9 anti-ship missile is an active air-to-ship missile for China’s own use, with a total combat weight of about 100 kilograms. It adopts active radar terminal guidance, and can also be replaced with a TV and laser semi-active seeker. The range of launch by helicopter is 15 kilometers, and the range of launch by fixed-wing fighters can reach 25 kilometers. It can be launched safely at a height of 15 meters above sea level. It can strike ships and small ships under 1,000 tons, and skim the sea at ultra-low altitude. The cruising speed is Mach 0.85 and the weight of the warhead is 30 kg.
It can be seen from the video of the Z-9D launching the YJ-9 small anti-ship missile that the YJ-9 anti-ship missiles can be fired directly on the beam, which is a great improvement. This launch method allows the helicopter to launch air-to-ship missiles at an ultra-low altitude close to the sea, making them extremely stealthy.
The Z-9D carrier-based helicopter currently equipped by the Chinese Navy is mainly used to wipe out and eliminate enemy missile boats and speedboats in the waters surrounding the Chinese Navy’s surface fleet.
According to military analyst Korolev, the combat radius of the Z-9D naval helicopter is relatively large, reaching more than 220 kilometers with four YJ-9 anti-ship missiles mounted. Considering that the range of anti-ship missiles launched by missile boats in general is currently within 200 kilometers, such a large combat radius of the Z-9D can ensure that enemy missile ships are driven out of the range of their anti-ship missiles. Even if the enemy’s missile ships are equipped with close-range anti-aircraft weapons, they are basically no threat to the Z-9D helicopters due to the insufficient range of the close-range anti-aircraft weapons.