[6] The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has had a requirement for a high-altitude medium utility helicopter that can operate in the mountainous regions in China since the 1980s.

[4] China was unable to purchase more Sikorsky aircraft following the fallout from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests that resulted in an EU and US arms embargo.

[11] One analyst said China could produce the stealth variant relatively easily because of their access to a modified MH-60 Black Hawk tail section, recovered by Pakistani security forces after a crash during the Bin Laden raid.

The model displayed a trapezoidal airframe, a shrouded main rotor hub, and an upper-facing ventilation system located on an enlarged tail boom.

[4] Pakistan may also have allowed China to examine wreckage from the US special forces Black Hawk abandoned during the assassination of Osama bin Laden on 1 May 2011.

[17] Data from CN Defense,[37] Popular Mechanics,[17] Janes[38]General characteristics Performance Armament Avionics EO/IR sensors