Lale Sariibrahimoglu, Ankara - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
18 November 2013
Turkey's T129 attack helicopter programme is facing delays. Source: TAI
The main batch of 50 Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)/AgustaWestland T129 attack helicopters is to be delayed by another year, Murad Bayar, head of Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM), has told IHS Jane's .
Delivery of the aircraft had originally been planned to begin in mid-2013, although this has now been pushed back another year. AgustaWestland sources separately confirmed that manufacturing of the first of the production batch in Italy has yet to begin.
The news comes as the delivery of the nine early delivery, basic configuration, T129A helicopters continues to be delayed due to technical issues discovered during acceptance tests conducted by the Turkish Land Forces Command, Bayar stated. However, he added that the technical problems were not too serious and should be overcome.
Local media reports have claimed that excessive vibrations have been occurring during flight trials and that the aircraft are unbalanced.
Meanwhile, Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz stated on 11 November that the procedures for accepting the first four early delivery T129As (largely assembled by AgustaWestland) have now been completed and their acceptance process continue. However, he fell short of elaborating on the remaining five early delivery helicopters (assembled by TAI).
TAI has been making modifications to meet specific Turkish requirements on the nine pre-series T129A attack helicopters that Turkey has ordered as a stop-gap measure until the main batch of T129B attack helicopters enter service.
Under the USD3 billion Attack and Tactical Reconnaissance Helicopter (ATAK) programme, TAI is to assemble and modify 51 T129Bs, a variant of the A129 Mangusta being developed specifically for Turkey. Aside from the nine T129As, there are six T129 prototypes in existence, with three built each by AgustaWestland and TAI.
Turkish attack helicopter project sees further delays - IHS Jane's 360
18 November 2013
Turkey's T129 attack helicopter programme is facing delays. Source: TAI
The main batch of 50 Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI)/AgustaWestland T129 attack helicopters is to be delayed by another year, Murad Bayar, head of Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM), has told IHS Jane's .
Delivery of the aircraft had originally been planned to begin in mid-2013, although this has now been pushed back another year. AgustaWestland sources separately confirmed that manufacturing of the first of the production batch in Italy has yet to begin.
The news comes as the delivery of the nine early delivery, basic configuration, T129A helicopters continues to be delayed due to technical issues discovered during acceptance tests conducted by the Turkish Land Forces Command, Bayar stated. However, he added that the technical problems were not too serious and should be overcome.
Local media reports have claimed that excessive vibrations have been occurring during flight trials and that the aircraft are unbalanced.
Meanwhile, Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz stated on 11 November that the procedures for accepting the first four early delivery T129As (largely assembled by AgustaWestland) have now been completed and their acceptance process continue. However, he fell short of elaborating on the remaining five early delivery helicopters (assembled by TAI).
TAI has been making modifications to meet specific Turkish requirements on the nine pre-series T129A attack helicopters that Turkey has ordered as a stop-gap measure until the main batch of T129B attack helicopters enter service.
Under the USD3 billion Attack and Tactical Reconnaissance Helicopter (ATAK) programme, TAI is to assemble and modify 51 T129Bs, a variant of the A129 Mangusta being developed specifically for Turkey. Aside from the nine T129As, there are six T129 prototypes in existence, with three built each by AgustaWestland and TAI.
Turkish attack helicopter project sees further delays - IHS Jane's 360
