The new domestically produced medium lift helicopter developed by the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has achieved a key development milestone, with the aft fuselage and tail boom modules of the rotorcraft successfully undergoing static load tests.
AVIC’s China Helicopter Research and Development Institute (CHRDI) announced in mid-April that the test verified the design’s ability to withstand stress under actual flight conditions, a requirement under the CAAC airworthiness regulations for transport rotorcraft. This move paves the way for AVIC to conduct the maiden flight of its first AC313A prototype PT-01 in the near future.
According to company specifications, the AC313A has a maximum take-off weight of 13,000 kg and is powered by three Safran ANETO-1C engines. It has an MTOW of 13 tons and is designed to accommodate 28 passengers, with expected missions including personnel and material transport, aeromedical evacuation, firefighting and maritime search and rescue.
The helicopter is physically similar to the Sikorsky S-92. Military versions are widely expected to be developed and powered by indigenous engines such as the WZ-10, although AVIC has yet to announce such a development.
Its predecessor, the AC313, made its maiden flight in March 2010 at CHRDI’s test facility in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Although local media have described the AC313 as a homegrown development, it is understood that the AC313 is a modernized Frelon version of the French aerospace company SA321 Super, which was first acquired by China in 1976 and then reverse engineered as the Z-8 for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ) for ground and naval forces and the People’s Armed Police (PAP) in several versions.
China has also jointly developed the 42-ton Advanced Heavy Duty (AHL) helicopter with Russian Helicopters and signed a commercial contract in June 2021 to begin 13-year research and development work in June 2021 after years of delays in work-sharing negotiations. The AHL’s status is once again uncertain as more Chinese companies are pulling out of Sino-Russian deals amid fears of Western sanctions from Russia’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine.
