China's Z-10 Attack Helicopter: How American Companies were Fooled

This is a perfect example of how Western technology can end up in adversary weapon systems because of dual use and lying.

United Technologies and Pratt & Whitney both supplied China with technology prohibited to export. They did so for the chance to win millions of dollars in civilian Chinese business. Instead, now both pleaded guilty to illegally supplying China with military technology and agreed to pay $75 million in penalties in fines. The companies also lied about the sale of software that helped the Chinese create the attack helicopter between 2002-3. These two companies allowed the Chinese to use restricted U.S. military technology. This ban began in 1989. The Chinese lured to two companies with a promise of $2 billion opportunity by making them exclusive suppliers. The engine supplied by Pratt & Whitney was not the civilian version, but the military version which is protected technology.

The Chinese muddled up the process on purpose to hide their real intentions by claiming they were building a 10 seat civilian transport helicopter. When American and Canadian engineers first saw it, they asked, "where are the 10 seats"? The Chinese official only laughed in response. By 2004, the Americans began to understand how they had been duped, yet, never reported it to the U.S. government. Finally, by 2006, they realized they had to.

The Chinese provided all the necessary documents the misled the American\Canadian engineers of both companies into thinking the end product was civilian use. There was never a civilian Z-10 planned, it was a ruse to get Western technology, which worked like a charm.

The first Z-10 flew in 2007 or so.