- Yes
- No
General Info
Ever since Agusta had supplied the Italian army with the A129 Mangusta, they looked for ways to improve on the design in hopes other nations around the world would put it into service. Although the base design was already deemed more than adequate for what armies needed at that time, they still knew that if they wanted to compete with nations such as America they would need to really make their helicopter unique. From this development the A129 International would be made, which did garner the interest of quite a few nations. Sadly despite the advantages the International provided compared to contemporary designs, no nation would sumbit any orders. Fast forward to the year 2007, Turkey would officially announced on the 30th of March that Italy (more specifically Agusta) and some Turkish companies would work together to create a new variant of the A129 Mangusta which would be modified to suit Turkish needs. This would be a major breakthrough for Agusta as this marked the the first time ever that the A129 Mangusta design would be picked up by any nation besides Italy. This would later be known as the T129. Turkish requirements at the time specified a need for a new attack and tactical reconnaissance helicopter which would be able to mount Turkish made tech, this would include weaponary as well as avionic equipment. The first 3 T-129 prototypes would be built entirely in Italy, the P-1 interestingly enough was not a new-build helicopter. Agusta wanting to save time when making the T129 P-1 would take one of their own A129 International airframes which they had in storage. Agusta previously used as that International as a testbed for all the improvements they marketed for that variant of the Mangusta. Both the International and the T129 used the American LHTEC T800-4A (also known as CTS800) engines, which did prove to greatly improve flight peformance. Armament wise, it had access to the same 20mm M197 three-barrel Gatling-type rotary cannon in use with the Italian army A129 Mangusta. This variant retained all armament options from the A129 International and Italian Army Mangustas such as the Hellfire and TOW ATGM, Stinger air to air missile and Medusa and Hydra unguided rockets. Due to this being produced with Turkish army specs in mind, it likely also was able to mount Cirit laser guided rockets and UMTAS and OMTAS ATGM’s. For self protection it had access to a Flare/Chaff countermeasures system and also RWR and IRCM. Once all of the avionics and mission equipment by Aselsan would be sent to Agusta, the first T-129 prototype was born. Once final checks were completed, on the 28th of September of 2009 the Agusta T129 P-1 (CSX81723) would finally take its maiden flight. The ceremony took place at the Agusta-Westland facilities in Vergiate, Italy. In its first flight it would be jointly flown by 1 Italian and 1 Turkish pilot in front of a Italian and Turkish crowd. The flight yielded great results and everyone there was happy with how the helicopter performed. It is good to note that the T129 P-1 would be painted with the standard Italian army grey/green coloring without any country markings. After the successful flight of the Italian made T129 Agusta together with several Turkish companies continued to develop and define the design. On the 19th of March 2010, 2 Italian test pilots from Agusta conducted a routine flight near Verbania in northern Italy. At the time everything seemed to work as normal up until the T129 P-1 experienced a sudden loss of power to the tail rotor while flying at an elevation of 1500 feet. This resulted in a crash and the complete destruction of the T129 P-1. Considering the fact the P-1 had been made on the basis of the spare A129 International airframe Agusta had, it is possibile that it contributed to crash due to it not being a newbuild unlike the subsequent Italian made T129 prototypes (P2 and P3). Despite setbacks, Turkey started production of the T129 without issues and has actively been serving inside the Turkish armed forces like planned.
Armament+Equipment
x1 20mm M197 three-barrel Gatling-type rotary cannon (500 rounds)
Hydra or Medusa air to ground rockets
12.7mm machine gun pods
x4 or x8 Hellfire ATGM’s
x4 or x8 TOW ATGM’s
x4 or x8 UTMAS/OMTAS ATGM’s
x4 or x8 Stinger air to air missiles
Thermal+NVG devices
IRCM
RWR
Ballistic computer
Flare+Chaff Countermeasures System
Specifications
Spoiler
Why it should be in game
The T129 P-1 would make for a perfect premium for the Italian helicopter tree, Gaijin can introduce it with Turkish made armament as well as standard armament already on the A129 to get the best of both in just 1 machine. It would be extremely easy to make considering everything is already been modelled and would just require a quick reskin which Gaijin will already have ready. It would certainly give Italy a proper T129 premium, since the current one isnt that great.
Sources
Spoiler
AgustaWestland apre una nuova struttura dedicata al T-129
ATAK Team annuncia il primo volo dell'elicottero T 129/ATAK Team Announces T 129 Helicopter Maiden Flight
http://www.helipress.it/schede-581-elicotteri_militari_t129_atak_il_mangusta_made_in_turchia_video
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM: Dal "Mangusta" al "T 129 ATAK": un contratto da $ 1,2 miliardi per annientare il popolo Curdo?
https://www.helis.com/database/model/TAI-T129/
TAI T-129 (ATAK) Dedicated Two-Seat, Twin-Engine Attack Helicopter
https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/TUSAŞ_T-129_Atak
https://www.tusas.com/en/product/t129-atak
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/t129-attack-helicopter/
TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK - Wikipedia
TAI T129 ATAK - Wikipedia
General Dynamics - M-197 20mm Gatling Gun | PDF
PICTURE: Turkey's first T129 attack helicopter crashes | News | Flight Global
https://www.helis.com/database/model/TAI-T129/
ATAK team flies first T129 prototype | News | Flight Global
https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/TUSAŞ_T-129_Atak
https://www.tusas.com/en/product/t129-atak
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/t129-attack-helicopter/
Photos
Spoiler
