TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK

The TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK is a twin-engine, tandem-seat attack helicopter developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in partnership with Leonardo S.p.A. to meet the Turkish Armed Forces' requirement for an armed reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is based on the Agusta A129 Mangusta platform, with Turkish-developed avionics, weapon systems and mission computer and upgraded engines, transmission and rotor blades, and it is designed for hot and high conditions in day and night operations. Turkey announced in March 2007 that it would negotiate with AgustaWestland to co-develop and produce 51 helicopters, a contract worth 1.2 billion dollars was signed that September, and the first prototype flew at AgustaWestland's facility at Vergiate in Italy on 28 September 2009. The first serial production aircraft was delivered to the Turkish Land Forces in April 2014; the T129A is the early combat support version and the T129B the multi-role version. Operators include Turkey, Nigeria, the Philippines and Somalia.