Turkey`s Great Hope T129 ATAK

Turkey’s Great Hope
T129 ATAK
Turkey’s Great Hope - T129 ATAK
Alan Warnes looks at one of the Turkey’s great indigenous hopes.
The prototype T129 ATAK P6 sits on the ramp at TAI’s Ankara’s facility. The other two prototypes P4 and P5
have been pressed into service with the Turkish Land Forces. All photos, Alan Warnes
Turkish Aerospace Industries has now delivered ten T129 ATAK tactical
reconnaissance and attack helicopters to the Turkish Land Forces. According
to the company they are being flown in some of the most challenging
environments in eastern Turkey. Where they are being employed in antiterrorist operations.
Among the ten new helicopters are nine T129A Erken Duhul Helikopteri (EDH –
Early Delivery Helicopter) and one T129B. This latest derivative, built by TAI,
has been modified with a digital moving map. It is armed with the Roketsan
UMTAS guided anti-tank missile, Roketsan CIRIT 2.75” air to ground laser
guided missile and Stinger air-to-air missiles.
TAI’s Gorkem Bilgi Manager/Business Development for the Helicopter Group
told the author at the Bahrain International Air Show in January: "We are close
to finishing the weapons integration trials, with the UMTAS acceptance tests
set to be completed in mid-2016.
“We are taking all the feedback from the Turkish Army operations in the field
to help develop the ATAK further. TAI can develop the T129 to the specific
mission profiles required by potential customers."
The T129 has appeared at four international airshows – Bahrain (2014), Farnborough (2014), Paris (2015)
Radom (2015). The first aircraft to join the Turkish Land Forces BG12-1001 visited the Farnborough Airshow in
July 2014.
Start Up
The five ton armed T129 is playing a major part in Turkey’s drive for its own
ambitious indigenization hopes. Since the SSM signed a $3 billion contract in
September 2007, Turkish Government entered into negotiations with
AgustaWestland in early 2007 to co-develop and produce 59 attack
helicopters based on the A129 Mangusta.
Under the agreement, Turkey will develop an indigenous mission computer,
avionics, weapons systems, self-protection suites and the helmet-mounting
cueing systems.
On September 7, 2007, Turkey’s Savaunma Sanayii Mustesarligi (SSM –
Undersecretariat for Defence Industries) signed a contract with
AgustaWestland, Aselsan and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the Turkish
Land Forces Command ATAK Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack
Helicopter. The $3 billion deal comprises 59 T129s (nine T129As and 50 T129Bs)
for the Turkish Army with options for a further 32. TAI is the prime contractor,
while Aselsan and AgustaWestland are the major sub-contractors. TAI also has
worldwide export rights - except for Italy and the UK.
The contract was declared effective on June 22, 2008 and the programme is
scheduled to run for 9 years from then.
Prototypes
The first prototype, P1 CSX81723, flew from AgustaWestland (now
Finmeccanica Helicopters) facilities at Cascina Costa, Italy on September 28,
2009. A further two Italian-built prototypes (P2 and P3) were joined by three
built in Turkey by TAI (P4, P5, P6). However P1 (an A129CBT) was lost in an
accident on March 20, 2010 while executing hover tests. The loss of power
occurred in its tail rotor while flying at an altitude of 1500ft (460m) in northern
Italy, fortunately the crew was able to maintain sufficient control to force-land
without serious injuries. The first prototype had flown over 600 hours when the
accident occurred. As a result another prototype - P7, was built in Italy by
AgustaWestland (now Finmeccanica Helicopters) and will eventually be
delivered to the Turkish Army.
Speeding Up
Due to the Turkish Army’s urgent requirement for new attack helicopters, an
additional contract was signed with AgustaWestland on November 8, 2010,
for nine T129A combat support ATAK Early Development Helicopters (EDH)
variants to enable early delivery of these basic versions. These are in addition
to the 50 that the Turkish Army has ordered and the single prototype (P6),
which will be used for test and development.
The first of three T129 prototypes, P6, to be assembled by TAI, made its
maiden flight from TAI’s Akinci facility on August 17, 2011. Flown by test pilots,
Adnan Meral and Gökhan Korkmaztürk, the helicopter departed on its
historical flight before most people were up, at 05.30am and returned,
without experiencing any problems, at 07.00am.
Engineers and technicians check the cables and wires of this EDH T129 on the production line at TAI Ankara
during June 2012.
Two of the prototypes P4 (EDH-1) and P5 (EDH-2/ATAK-1) – also the first two
EDHs – were handed over to the Turkish Land Forces along with EDH-3/ATAK-2
on June 10, 2014 and all nine EDHs had been handed over by July 31, 2015.
Systems
The first 30 T129Bs known as Phase 1 examples do not have any radar warning
receiver or laser warning receiver, like the remaining 20 Phase 2 T129Bs will
have, although they will be upgraded at a later date.
With over 20 years of urban warfare operations against terrorist activities in the
south the Turkish Army wants the best attack helicopter and has been
feeding all their requirements from their experiences against the PKK. Army
Aviation personnel have been based at TAI to ensure there is a clear
communication line.
All the T129Bs will have a full range of locally produced systems including the
Aselsan AVCI helmet-mounted cueing system, Roketsan UMTAS missiles and
Roketsan Cirit laser-guided 2.75 in rockets.
The Roketsan UMTAS guided anti-tank missile should complete weapons integration tests on the T129 in July
2016. Customers can buy the Hellfire
The T129B boasts a 20 mm gatling-style cannon in a nose turret as well as the
ability to carry a combination of four 70 mm rocket launchers with 76 rockets,
19 Roketsan Cirit laser guided 2.75” rockets, eight Stinger air-to-air missile, two
12.7mm gun pods and two 294kg auxiliary fuel tanks on its stub wing pylons.
TAI’s Gorkem Bilgi added: “The EDHs are basic helicopters, fitted with a 20mm
gun and unguided rockets. They will not carry laser-guided weapons and the
electronic warfare specification is different.”
Positioned above the 20mm cannon is an Aselsan ASELFLIR-300T advanced
targeting system turret, which houses a thermal camera, laser range
finder/designator, laser spot tracker, colour TV camera, colour spotter
camera with a multiple target tracking capability. They can be monitored by
the pilot’s Aselsan helmet integrated cueing system (see Aselsan’s Helmet).
The Aselsan ASELFLIR-300T is integrated with the 20mm gattling-style gun.
A MILDAR advanced millimeter radar is being developed by Meteksan, which
can provide key radar technologies, similar to that found in the Longbow
radar mounted above the Apache. They will include target acquisition
tracking classifications, Pulse-Doppler, SAR, ISAR and terrain profiling for the
T129 in both attack and tactical reconnaissance roles. When operational it
will be mounted above the rotors.
Roketsan has developed a Turkish equivalent of the Hellfire II, known as the
UMTAS (Uzun Menzilli Tanksavar Sistemi) anti-tank guided missile for the T129B
version. With its Imaging infrared seeker and laser seeker options, UMTAS (also
known as Muzrak-U which has been dropped) is an anti-tank missile, with a
range of 5 miles (8kms). It has ability to lock on before/after launch with fire
and forget or fire and update capabilities against armoured targets.
Roketsan’s other T129 weapon is the CIRIT 2.75in guided rocket. It is a costeffective weapon with the longest range (5 miles, 8kms) in its class and the
company claims it also has superior precision against light,
armored/unarmored and stationary/mobile targets.
The 2.75” laser guided missile was designed for the purpose of filling the gap
between cheap, unguided rockets with low precision and the high cost,
guided anti-tank missiles. It has been ordered by the UAEAF&AD for their fleet
of Air Tractor AT 802s, which they have now disposed of and the new IOMAX
Archangel.
Another weapon arming Turkey’s attack helicopter is the CIRIT 2.75 inch laser guided missile. Each launcher
can carry 19 LGMs.
Export Hopes
While the five bladed T129 is more powerful than the four bladed A129
Mangusta, fuel efficiency is not much different and the T129 is capable of
executing mission profiles at hot and high conditions for over 2 hours. While
Finmeccanica Helicopters has all but given up on further sales of their A129
Mangusta which has seen action in Afghanistan, TAI is much more positive. It
has implemented several key improvements, in close liaison with the battlehardened Turkish Army Aviation.
Members of TAI stand in front of the T129 in the static display at Paris.
The company continues to explore export orders and there are a number of
future potential customers. The T129 made its international debut at the
Bahrain International Air Show in January 2014. The Royal Bahraini Air Force
AH-1E/F Cobras are over 30 years old and a replacement is needed. In July
2015, Farnborough International Air Show, where like Bahrain it appeared in
the static and flying display. Poland has also evaluated the T129 as part of its
attack helicopter requirement to replace its Russian built Mi-24/35s and the
helicopter appeared at the Radom Airshow in late August 2015.
In February 2010, Pakistan Army was offered 15 T129s to replace some of its
ageing AH-1E/Fs, but the package fell through when there was a change of
Government. The money earmarked for their acquisition was diverted to
helping with the catastrophic floods in Pakistan during the summer of 2010.
Aselsan’s Helmet
Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) selected Aselsan to
develop and produce the Helmet Integrated Cueing System (HICS) for the
T129 with Thales in 2010. The TopOwl helmet mounted sight display was
evaluated by Turkish armed forces pilots, who were impressed by the comfort
of the helmet system and understood the benefits of visor projection
technology, which played a role in the procurement decision."
The Thales Top Owl helmet mounted sight display is part of the AVCI Helmet Integrated Cueing System
(HICS).
AVCI HICS will provide situational awareness and the ability to cue weapons.
The visor will display video and symbology during day/night missions to the
pilot, and generates the head tracking information in accordance with the
pilot’s head movements. This will interface with the FLIR, gun or weapons on
the helicopter. The headgear can be personalized for the pilot as well as
protect the pilot’s head and face.
Technical Specifications:
Powerplant: LHTEC CTS-800 4A, 2 x 1014kW (2 x 1361shp).
Max Design Gross Weight: 5000 kg (11,023 lb).
Dimensions: Length: 13.64 m Main Rotor Diameter: 11.90 m Overall Height:
3.96 m.
Crew: 2, Tandem.
Cruise Speed: 269 km/h, 145 kts.
Range: 561 km.
HIGE: 3993 m.
HOGE: 3048 m.
Service Ceiling: 6096 m.
Endurance: 3 hrs (std tank).
Armaments: 2 x 4 UMTAS ATGM Missile (or Hellfire or Spike), 4 x 19 70 mm
(2.75”) Unguided Rockets, 4 x 2-4 70 mm (2.75”) Guided CİRİT Rockets,
8 x ATAM Stingers.
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