The Philippines has received the first batch of Turkey-made attack helicopters, the country’s air force announced on Wednesday.
Two T129 Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopters (ATAK) arrived at Clark Air Base, Pampanga early Wednesday, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said, cited by the country’s news agency.
The country had ordered six helicopters designed and developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The Philippines – which is buying the six choppers worth approximately $280 million (TL 4.1 billion) – is the first country abroad to use the ATAK.
“The PAF welcomes the arrival of two units of T129 ‘ATAK’ helicopters onboard the (Airbus) A-400M from Turkey at 30 minutes past midnight March 9, 2022, at Clark Air Base, Mabalacat City, Pampanga,” Air Force spokesperson Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano was cited by Philippine News Agency (PNA) as saying in a message to reporters.
The sale had been delayed due to the export license barrier but the process gained momentum after the United States greenlighted the export of the choppers, powered by an American engine, in May.
The helicopter is powered by engines made by LHTEC, a joint venture of British Rolls Royce and Honeywell, a U.S. company. Foreign companies are obligated to obtain export permits for U.S. military-grade commercial sales.
TAI’s engine manufacturing subsidiary, TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI), embarked on a project to develop a domestic engine for the helicopter, the turboshaft TEI-TS1400, which will also power the country's first indigenous T625 multirole helicopter named Gökbey.
When mass-produced, it will equip the T129 helicopters in the inventory of Turkish security forces.
The helicopters will be subject to a technical inspection and flight tests before being accepted for service to the PAF, Mariano told the PNA.
“It will undergo inspection, acceptance (test), test flights before the acceptance ceremonies can be done and it will go through a lot of orientation in (the) country, together with the pilots and the crew,” he said.
The two T129 helicopters are expected to be commissioned within one or two months at the most, he added.
Mariano said the Turkish-made attack helicopters are expected to enhance the “surface strike system” of the Air Force.
The T129 ATAK is a next-generation, tandem and two-seat, twin-engine helicopter specifically designed for attack and reconnaissance.
The TAI has so far delivered the helicopters, including their upgraded versions, to the Turkish Land Forces Command, the Gendarmerie General Command and the General Directorate of Security.
