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Philippine Air Force receives 2 T-129 attack helicopters from Turkey

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The Philippine Air Force has received two units of T-129 ATAK helicopters from Turkey Wednesday to beef up its fleet of lightly-armed helicopters.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">ICYMI | A glimpse of the T129 ATAK Helicopters for the Philippine Air Force. The first two units of six are expected to be delivered from Turkey by year’s end. 📷Philippine Air Force <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneDefenseTeamPH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneDefenseTeamPH</a> 🇵🇭 <a href="https://t.co/olChoojJbl">pic.twitter.com/olChoojJbl</a>— DND Philippines (@dndphl) <a href="https://twitter.com/dndphl/status/1470581630247260160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2021</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>The PAF said the 2 choppers arrived at 12:30 a.m. at Clark Air Base, Mabalacat City, Pampanga. According to Turkish Aerospace Industries, the T-129 is a twin-engine, tandem seat, multi-role, all-weather attack helicopter based on the Agusta A129 Mangusta platform and is designed for advanced attack and reconnaissance missions in hot and high environments and rough geography in both day and night conditions.&quot;&quot;We expect to be in commission maybe a month or two at the most depending on the pace of the acceptance test flights,&quot; PAF spokesperson Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano told reporters. The 15th Strike Wing of the Philippine Air Force will operate the T-129 helicopters and will be utilized for Close Air Support to ground troops and armed surveillance and reconnaissance. The Philippines acquired a total of 6 T-129 ATAK helicopters from Turkish Aerospace Industries for a total contract price of USD269,388,862 (about PHP12.9 billion), according to a Philippine News Agency report.

The Philippine Air Force has received two units of T-129 ATAK helicopters from Turkey Wednesday to beef up its fleet of lightly-armed helicopters.