The Undersecretariat of the Defense Industry April 24 said the first T129 ATAK Raid Helicopter (ARH), produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the first domestically produced helicopter, entered the Armed Forces inventory April 22, published reports said.
The ATAK was produced within the agreement for nine of the helicopters signed between the Undersecretariat of the Defense Industry and TAI in September, 2007, which envisages the supply of nine pieces of T129 ARHs helicopters, the Daily Sabah said.
TAI said on its website that the T129 integrates of nationally developed avionics and weapon systems on to Finmeccanica’s combat-proven AgustaWestland A129 airframe, with upgraded engines, transmission and rotor blades.
Designed to meet Turkish Armed Forces requirements, the helicopter is optimized for hot and high environments.
The initial contract called for 50 helicopters with an amendment in 2010 to enable deliveries of nine more helicopters, starting 15 months earlier than planned.
The T129 ATAK drew a lot of attention from high level executives performing a flight demonstration at the Bahrain International Air Show 2014 in January.