The Minister of National Defense of the Philippines, Dolphin Lorenzana, on May 24, 2021, confirmed the existence of an intergovernmental firm contract with Turkey for the purchase of six T129B ATAK combat helicopters manufactured by the Turkish state aircraft company Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) in the amount of $ 269 million.
“Based on the latest developments, we are expecting the first two units of T129 attack helicopters for the Philippine Air Force (PAF) to be delivered this September,” Philippine Department of National Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
Also reports that two more helicopters will be delivered in February 2022 and the final two in 2023, with Andolong telling the official Philippine News Agency that the helicopters will cost $269 million under a government-to-government contract.
T129 is a twin-engine multirole attack helicopter produced under license from the Italian-British company AgustaWestland and based on the A129 Mangusta.
The T129 ATAK Helicopter is designed in two types for close air support and multi-purpose missions:
Designed for close air support missions, the T129A are equipped with up to 76 each 70 mm unguided missiles and a 20-mm gun with 500-round capacity.
The T129B helicopter, on the other hand, is equipped with the most modern electronic warfare equipment for multi-purpose missions and can be operated with8 UMTAS anti-tank guided missiles, 12 guided CIRIT rockets, 2 STINGERs and 500 rounds for the automatic gun.