Turkish T-129 Gunship Helicopter Gets One Step Closer to Production

New prototype of the Turkish T-129 gunship helicopter flew for the first time on 17th August. Prototype aircraft P6 of the T-129 gunship helicopter took off from the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Akinci-Ankara site at 05:30 Turkish local time and landed after flying for one and half hour.

TAI’s test pilots Adnan Meral and Gokhan Korkmazturk has said that gunship helicopter flew as expected and its first flight was a success.

This prototype is fitted with the AselFLIR-300T targeting system which has been developed by the Turkish firm Aselsan and a mock-up of a 20mm gun.

Turkey started the $1.7 billion T-129 gunship helicopter program in June 2008. TAI will deliver first batch of 9 T-129As in mid-2012 and deliveries of the more advance version T-129B which will be based on this prototype will start in July 2013.