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Current Affairs

Red Hawk rising: how the Z-20 family is plugging China’s chronic defence gaps

Telling a Harbin Z-20 and a Sikorsky UH-60 “Black Hawk” apart can be challenging – the two helicopters look almost identical and their dimensions are…

By Samantha Johnson / June 21, 2026
Telling a Harbin Z-20 and a Sikorsky UH-60 “Black Hawk” apart can be challenging – the two helicopters look almost identical and their dimensions are very similar.

The striking resemblance underscores China’s decades-long effort to close the technological gap with the United States and Russia in the important aviation sector of helicopters.

Yet, there are differences: the Z-20 has five main rotor blades compared with the UH-60’s four, and its cabin features two front windows instead of the American model’s three.

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The Z-20 is Beijing’s most advanced military helicopter designed for multiple situational uses, including in the Taiwan Strait.

PLA kicks off military exercises around Taiwan

China entered the scene late. Until 1984, it lacked high-altitude-capable helicopters. That changed when 24 S-70Cs, the Black Hawk’s civilian variant, were imported at the peak of China-US ties.

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Over the next three and a half decades, China relied solely on this ageing and shrinking fleet for both military and civilian missions in its vast high-altitude territories.

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