The newly-rebranded Turkish Aerospace, formerly Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), is pushing to dominate the medium to heavy helicopter markets through two new models.
The aircraft will be spanning the civil and military side; however, the company currently awaits confirmation from the Turkish government to proceed from the quotation it supplied to development stages.
In an interview with Shephard at Paris Air Show in 2017, Metİn Olcay, business development of the helicopter group at the-then TAI, explained to Shephard that the company was looking at growing its helicopter portfolio.
‘We want to complete our range of helicopters, we want more than two [aircraft]. In 2018 we will be starting on other helicopter designs, smaller or larger [than the existing rotorcraft] - it will be customer dependent,’ Olcay said.
Temel Kotil, president and CEO at Turkish Aerospace, confirmed to Shephard that talks were underway with the Turkish government as the company prepared to expand further into the medium to heavy segments.
Currently, the company has the 5t T129 Atak and the 6t T625 multirole helicopter. The current vision is for a couple more platforms bigger than the incumbent aircraft.
Kotil said that a quotation has been provided to the Turkish government in relation to a new 8t attack helicopter which he is hopeful to sign a contract for in the next couple of months. The company, Kotil explained, was with the government also exploring a 12t civil helicopter which would carry 20-plus passengers, although this was still in its infancy.
In October 2017, the company announced that the Atak 2, a combination of the T129 Atak and T625, was under development. Atak 2 will have increased payload capacity and modern avionic systems. Whether this is the attack platform considered at this stage is yet to be determined.
On 13 July this year, the company announced it had finalised 30 T129 Atak helicopters to be delivered to Pakistan. The contract also included: logistics; ammunition; spares; ground support equipment and training.
The first aircraft is anticipated to be delivered within 12 months, Kotil said. He explained the attack helicopters alongside the Anka UAV have been received well by the Turkish armed forces. The service has been utilising the aircraft for interior operations as well as border security missions.
‘We have signed the [Pakistan] contract already. The deliveries are set for less than a year for the first purchase. There will be 30 machines altogether. [For] the Turkish Land Forces we have delivered 35 [T129] already,’ Kotil said.
The company is hopeful for more orders and whilst he would not divulge prospects; it is believed
Kazakhstan could purchase the T129 to bolster its ageing fleet when it looks to modernise its aircraft in the near-future.
The company’s civil platform the T625 is due for its first flight imminently and is on schedule. ‘The first flight is this September 6th. It will be around 6am in the morning [because] it is cooler in the morning. We [will] finish the transmission, we [will] test the transmission and
this Monday [23 July] we have the first engine fire,’ he said to Shephard.
A mock-up of the company’s light attack Hürjet platform is on display at Farnborough and
Kotil is hopeful that in 2021, the aircraft will take its first flight.
https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/...rough-2018-turkish-aerospace-expanding-helic/
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