The manned flight of helicopters was in the 1930s. But the plane that has just been able to fly with people has not been used for military purposes. In the 1940s, the Germans installed machine guns on helicopters for the first time and became armed helicopters. Americans were the first to use helicopters in war. In the early 1950s, Americans first used helicopter gunships on the Korean battlefield. They used rockets and other weapons to equip helicopters, and projected them at China and North Korea from low altitude. Some helicopters are also used for battlefield rescue. On the Korean battlefield, there were too many wounded soldiers in the United States. Because of the dangerous terrain, there are not enough stretchers and vehicles. What do we do? Americans think of helicopters, and people realize that helicopters have the function of battlefield rescue. Of course, if people can be transported, weapons can be transported. Americans also use helicopters to deliver weapons and ammunition to the frontier forces, and also directly deliver troops to support the first-line attack. It can be said that Americans have fully developed the military use of helicopters.

In the middle and late 1950s, the French army fully played the role of helicopter in the Algerian war. They equipped helicopters with cannons, bombs, rockets, etc. , and close to the ground, frantically shooting and bombing their own enemies, and achieved special tactical effects. In the 1960s, helicopters used by Americans in Vietnam were not only equipped with traditional weapons, but also equipped with missiles. These helicopters loaded with missiles are mainly used against tanks. Armed helicopters are more effective against tanks than other anti-tank weapons. Later, in the famous wars such as the Middle East War and the Gulf War, helicopter gunships became an indispensable role.

In modern military equipment, armed helicopters have become an important part. To this end, major military powers have spared no expense in developing helicopters. The development of helicopters not only greatly improves the flight speed and maneuverability, but also improves the airborne weapons and equipment, such as improving the automation of the fire system, enabling the aircraft to fly and fight all the time, reducing the noise, weakening the reflection of radar waves and the intensity of infrared radiation.

China was able to make helicopters in the late 1940s. Zhu Jiaren, director of China Kunming Aircraft Factory, started to develop helicopters from 1945, and finally successfully developed the first helicopter, named Hummingbird. The power of the aircraft is 125 horsepower, with a width of 2.34 meters, a height of 2.63 meters and a rotor diameter of 7.62 meters. The empty weight is 589.5 kg, and the total weight is 725.5kg.. Cruise speed per hour 1 12km, maximum speed per hour 136km. The climbing speed is per minute140m. Hovering vertex 9 10 meter. The maximum range is 2 19 km. The appearance of this plane should be said to be a great progress in the history of China's aviation industry. However, due to the war, the factory failed to continue working. The factory was seriously damaged when the Kuomintang retreated to the mainland, and the development of helicopters was terminated.

After the establishment of the new China regime, the research and manufacture of helicopters have been put back to an important position. Since 1950s, the development of helicopters in China has embarked on a road of gradual improvement. Firstly, the mature technology of the former Soviet Union was introduced, and on the basis of imitation and reference design, the process of self-developed manufacturing and cooperation with advanced foreign manufacturers began. China aviation engineers and technicians have successively developed seven types of helicopters in three categories: light, medium and heavy. Military helicopters such as Z-5, Z-8 and Z-9 have been produced. These aircraft have shown good technical performance and practical value in use.