Türkiye continues testing attack helicopter T929 ATAK-2 VIDEO

The prototype of the promising attack helicopter T929 ATAK-2, created by the Turkish state aircraft manufacturing association Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayii (TUSAŞ), continues ground and flight tests.

SavunmaSanayiST.com tweeted, Caliber.Az reports.

🇹🇷ATAK 2 Ağır Sınıf Taarruz Helikopteri yer ve uçuş testlerine devam ediyor

@TUSAS_TR pic.twitter.com/dQjHAHmv4c

— Defence Turk (@Defence_Turk) July 14, 2023

In February 2019, SSB signed a contract with the Türk Havacılık ve Uzay Sanayii (TUSAŞ) association to create a new “heavy-class combat helicopter” (Ağır Sınıf Taarruz Helikopter) in the interests of the Turkish armed forces under the ATAK-2 program.

The new helicopter should complement, and in the future replace the much lighter T129 ATAK combat helicopter of about 5-ton take-off weight class, which is a licensed derivative of the Italian AW129 helicopter from Leonardo (AgustaWestland), now mass-produced at TUSAŞ.

TUSAŞ announced the start of a program to create a heavier-than-T129 ATAK combat helicopter with the symbol ATAK-2 back in 2017. At the same time, it was originally planned to create a helicopter of approximately 6-7-ton weight class using the carrier system of the T625 multipurpose helicopter created by TAI, also of the 6-ton class.

However, subsequently, due to the growth of military requirements, the promising ATAK-2 combat helicopter, designated T929, became a 10-ton class machine (that is, comparable to the Boeing AH-64 Apache), which required the creation of a completely new carrier system and the use of two more powerful turboshaft engines, which were chosen (at least for prototypes) TV3-117VMA-SBM1V-01T engines with a take-off power of 2500 hp. production of the Ukrainian JSC Motor-Sich (Zaporozhye).

Now the maximum takeoff weight of the T929 is declared by TUSAŞ at 11,500 kg with a payload mass of “up to 1,500 kg”. The helicopter should be equipped with a 30-mm cannon, the main part of the onboard equipment and weapons, will migrate from the latest versions of the T129. The widest possible use of Turkish-made systems and equipment has been declared. At the beginning of 2022, the TUSAŞ management announced that the first three production T929 helicopters should be delivered to the Turkish army aviation in 2025.