Farnborough 2016: T129 nears full weaponisation
13th July 2016 - 16:00 by Tony Skinner in Farnborough
Farnborough 2016: T129 nears full weaponisation
The Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) T129 ATAK attack helicopter is expected to be fully weaponised by the end of the year after final qualification tests in coming months.
Developed in conjunction with Leonardo Helicopters, the T129 is already in operational service with the Turkish Armed Forces with 13 helicopters delivered to date.
Speaking to Shephard at the Farnborough International Airshow 2016 (FIA 16), Metin Sancar, the executive VP of TAI’s helicopter group, said the 14th and 15th T129s were currently in production and the company was ramping up to deliver one to two aircraft per month.
‘So far the performance of the T-129 has been very pleasing. We are hearing very good performance news from the operations of the aircraft,’ Sancar said.
As a further indication of the maturity of the programme, the various elements in the weapons suite are nearing full integration.
The Roketsan Cirit laser-guided 70 mm rocket system is now integrated with the T-129 while the Mizrak-U/L-UMTAS air-to-surface anti-tank missile is scheduled to undergo qualification flight tests in September.
The ongoing work was confirmed by Roketsan president and CEO Selçuk Yaşar at FIA 16 and while he was unable to provide further details, he said the integration was progressing well.
The AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missile will also take part in flight tests on the T129 in August, to get that weapon fully qualified on the aircraft.
Sancar also highlighted the recent hot and high trials TAI carried out in Pakistan, which was observed by the Pakistan Armed Forces, as further preparation of the company preparing the T129 for the export market.
The company fancies its chances in Poland and will offer the T129 in conjunction with Leonardo Helicopters once the request for proposals for the country’s Kruk attack helicopter tender is issued.
Meanwhile, after a significant delay since Sikorsky was first selected for the Turkish Utility Helicopter Programme (TUHP) in 2011, the ball may finally be rolling for that programme.
The contract licences TAI as TUHP prime contractor to manufacture and deliver 109 T70 helicopters over the next ten years.
Sancar said the agreements were now in effect between TAI as the prime contractor and Sikorsky Aircraft as a major subcontractor while three major Turkish aerospace contractors - Alp Aviation, Turkish Engine Industries (TEI) and Aselsan - have also been selected as subcontractors.
‘There were some export licence provisions the two governments were working through but now they have come to an agreement and the programme is progressing smoothly. So in around four and a half years we expect the first aircraft to be available to the customer.’
Once up and running, the production line is expected to produce one to two aircraft per month – a similar capacity level to Sikorsky’s PZL Mielec facility in Poland.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sikorsky and TAI will market an additional 109 aircraft on the international stage.
TAI’s helicopter ambitions go even further, and the company is forging ahead with the Ozgun (indigenous) helicopter, a new 5-6 tonne rotorcraft Sancar is hopeful will be flown for the first time before the end of 2018.
‘It will be a civil certified helicopter but there will be a military version as well, with additional mission systems,’ Sancar said.
‘Once that project gets to a certain point, we are aiming to introduce more platforms. We aim to have a complete helicopter portfolio – if you don’t put a target in place like this, you just stand still and don’t grow. And we aim to be one of the main players.’
Source:
https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/rotorhub/farnborough-2016-t129-nears-full-weaponisation/