Agusta A129 Mangusta

The Agusta A129 Mangusta (Mongoose) is a two-seat attack helicopter designed and built by the Italian company Agusta, and it is described as the first attack helicopter designed and produced wholly in Europe. The Italian Army formed its requirement for a light observation and anti-tank helicopter in 1972, a joint effort with West Germany's MBB soon fell apart, and Agusta began the design in 1978, reusing the rear section of its A109 utility helicopter behind an entirely new angular, armoured forward fuselage with a tandem cockpit for pilot and gunner. The first of five prototypes flew on 11 September 1983 and the Italian Army, the only operator, received 60 aircraft from 1990. Development continued under AgustaWestland, the successor company, which added the export A129 International, redesignated AW129 in 2007, the A129 CBT combat standard and the AW129D with Spike-ER missiles. The Turkish T129 ATAK was derived from the International version, and a larger successor, the Leonardo AW249 Fenice, followed from 2017.