Tank buster gyrocopters in operation with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) are potential weapon systems that could be deployed in the Line of Actual Control in India's highland ranges. They were featured by Chinese state media showing them equipped with tank killer missiles and sensor turrets too.
Lighter, Cost-Effective Tank Killers
The PLA special force had these light copters when a Chinese company started building them in 2014, reported EurAsian Times.
These gyrocopters took part in a parade in 2019 commemorating the People's Republic of China's 70th anniversary. When the video was published, it showed a dual-seat gyrocopter armed with four anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) on the weapon mounts of a hardpoint, noted the Drive.
It has a tiny sensor turret under its nose that could be used to identify targets and guide missiles to them. Additionally, the sensor might have capabilities for general surveillance and reconnaissance but seems to be a mixed bag with these upgrades on the gyro, and the sensor ball and ATGM tubes don't look like high-end equipment.
Improvements indicate the PLA wants to improve even its non-conventional military hardware.
People's Liberation Army's Mini Gyroplane
Another type of rotorcraft, known as a gyroplane, is propelled forward like a plane by powered propellers. Despite resembling a helicopter rotor somewhat, the gyrocopter's rotor generates rotation by moving air across the rotor disc. Instead of moving downward through the rotor disc, air moves upward.
Baojii in Shaanxi, a Special Vehicles Manufacturing Company, began producing the Lie Ying Falcon, or Hunting Eagle Strike Gyro, for use by the PLA in August 2014.
The Hunting Eagle 'tank buster gyrocopter' comes in single and multi-seat variants, each capable of 250 miles of operational range and a max weight of 1,235 pounds total.
The Gyroplanes seen in the video are like those seen in the 2019 parade; they can fly in seconds and land at steeper angles or in closed spaces.
As a versatile platform, the smaller size is easy to transport to staging areas for covert recon missions, patrols, and search and rescue operations. It is less detectable to enemy radar due to its size and quiet. It is not a large heat source.
Armed gyroplanes are for ground support and killing enemy tanks as well, though the smaller engine has a quitter rotor. The selling points are how easy it is to fly and how easy it is to operate. It can be used for various operations and can be operated anywhere.
Will it be used in the LAC?
According to reports, these mini-copters have been used in military training exercises, particularly in Tibet in 2021. However, it is still unknown how the PLA will employ armed gyroplanes equipped with tank-killing rockets and their sensors.
The three-seat gyroplane could be used for plateau operations in places like the Tibet Autonomous Region of Southwest China, where the Line of Actual Contact is, according to a military expert, citing the Global Times.
In such missions, Falcon gyroplanes could enter dangerous areas while remaining basically undetectable and silent; they could even attack tanks at the Sino-Indian border.
It remains to be seen how they do in a real battle zone where it is exposed to enemy forces as it's lightly protected. Cheap and deployable it does add to the PLA's options in combat.
The Chinese tank buster gyrocopter has possibilities, and deployment to the Line of Actual Control is someplace to test it out first. Simple and cheap platforms might work out for the PLA's asymmetrical combat.