Pakistan had bought Z-9EC attack helicopters from china to compete with the indian Navy. These Harbin helicopters were deployed on the Zulfiqar series frigates of the Pakistani Navy. Not only this, pakistan also added advanced systems like pulse compression radar, low frequency sonar, doppler navigation system and radar alert receiver in these helicopters to maintain strategic balance with India. However, these Chinese helicopters dashed all the hopes of Pakistan.
These Chinese helicopters have now become a headache for Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir. Now these helicopters are not even able to fly. The most serious problem of Z-9EC is its tail rotor blade, in which a technical defect has come to the fore. This part controls the direction of the helicopter and its malfunction can cause the entire aircraft to become uncontrollable. In a tense environment like war, this problem directly endangers the lives of the crew.
How much will pakistan trust Chinese goods?
According to a report by Defesa Online, the life of the main rotor blade is considered to be around 3000 hours, but many blades got junked in the marine environment long ago, due to which they had to be replaced before their expiry date. This raises questions about the reliability of the rotor system. How long can any Chinese product be trusted anyway?
Incidents of tyre bursts were also reported
Between 2018–2019, several incidents of tyre bursts were reported during landing. The brake distribution valve was held responsible for this. This means that Pakistan's anti-submarine helicopters are not safe not only in the air but also on the ground.
China had promised to maintain the helicopters
When pakistan bought these helicopters from china in 2006, china had promised to supply the helicopters as well as take responsibility for maintaining them, but the ground situation is different. Despite the special maintenance centre set up at Mehran Naval Base, serious problems remain in the repair and supply of spare parts of the helicopters. Apart from this, there are other reasons due to which it is becoming difficult for pakistan to keep these helicopters, such as-
Lack of timely supply of spare parts.
Technical complexities in repair processes.
Limited availability of trained Chinese engineers.
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