Strengthening Air Force, Philippines Receives First Batch Of T129 ATAK Reconnaissance Attack Helicopters

Philippine Air Force T129 ATAK helicopter. (Wikimedia Commons/DND Philippines)

JAKARTA - The Philippines has received its first batch of Turkish-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 on Wednesday morning, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said, quoted by the state news agency.

Ordered six helicopters designed and developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The Philippines, which spent 280 million US dollars for all helicopters purchased, became the first country abroad to use ATAK.

"PAF welcomes the arrival of two T129 'ATAK' helicopters aboard the (Airbus) A-400M from Turkey at 30 minutes past midnight March 9, 2022, at Clark Air Base, Mabalacat City, Pampanga", Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Maynard Mariano was quoted by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) as saying in a message to reporters as reported by the Daily Sabah on March 9th.

Mariano further said the helicopter would undergo technical checks and flight tests before being accepted for service to the PAF.

"It will undergo inspection, acceptance (test), flight test before the acceptance ceremony can take place and will go through many orientations domestically, together with pilots and crew", he explained.

Philippine Air Force T129 ATAK helicopter. (Wikimedia Commons/DND Philippines)

The two T129 helicopters are expected to be commissioned within a month or two at the latest. Mariano said the Turkish-made attack helicopters were expected to improve the Air Force's 'surface attack system'.

Sales of these helicopters were briefly hampered by export licenses but then gained momentum after the United States gave the green light for the export of helicopters, which are powered by American engines, in May last year.

The helicopter is powered by engines made by LHTEC, a joint venture of British Rolls Royce and Honeywell, a US company. It is known, foreign companies are required to obtain export permits for commercial sales of US military grade.

TAI's engine manufacturing subsidiary, TUSAŞ Engine Industries (TEI), started a project to develop a domestic engine for the helicopter, the TEI-TS1400 turboshaft, which will also power Turkey's first T625 multirole helicopter, the Gökbey.

When it is mass-produced, the Gökbey helicopter will complement the T129 helicopter in the inventory of the Turkish security forces.

To note, 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 helicopters, including their upgraded versions, to the Turkish Army Command, Gendarmerie General Command, and General Directorate of Security.