Türkiye’s domestic attack helicopters are being used in every condition and in difficult missions for the country’s counterterrorism operations and will continue to hunt terrorists, the defense ministry said Monday.
The National Defense Ministry most recently shared video footage, showing military drills made with T129 Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopter (Atak) helicopters that target terrorist elements in several regions.
In addition to the night and day footage, the video also included operation footage taken during the summer and winter months. The moments when the Ataks hit the locked targets with pinpoint accuracy were visible in the footage shared by the ministry.
“The terrorists, who think they are safe in the holes they hide, realize that escaping is impossible when they hear the sound of Atak helicopters, our local and national power,” the ministry said in the Twitter statement.
“Even in the most challenging regions, our Ataks and heroic pilots acquaint terrorists to their inevitable ends,” it added.
Those particular helicopters are designed and developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and are powered by engines made by LHTEC, a joint venture of British Rolls Royce and Honeywell, a U.S. company.
TAI’s engine manufacturing subsidiary, TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI), meanwhile embarked on a project to develop a domestic engine for the helicopter, the turboshaft TEI-TS1400.
The T129 ATAK is a next-generation, tandem and two-seat, twin-engine helicopter specifically designed for attack and reconnaissance.
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.
