The T129 “Atak” Advanced Attack and Tactical Reconnaissance Helicopter has now reached yet another critical milestone in its operational history. Having been successfully deployed in the Pakistan Army Aviation Base in Multan, during approximately 15 days, the T129 “Atak” Helicopter’s wide capability range has been put to the test by the Pakistan Army Aviation authorities.

T129 “Atak” Beats the Heat 50°C & Altitude 14.000 f.t.

T129 “Atak “Helicopter has proven its deployability with the Pakistan operation in May 2016. It was loaded into a cargo aircraft in TAI’s Ankara facilities by 6 technicians, within just one hour. After it was transferred to the Army Aviation Base in Multan, it took again just an hour to be operational.

Throughout the testing activities, the T129 “Atak” Helicopter flew to the highest and hottest regions of Pakistan Pano Aquil-Chor (50°C), which followed by Quetta, to conduct the mission profile of the Pakistani Army. 

During the 7 flight sorties performed, Pakistani pilots had the chance to test the helicopter in day and night conditions with MTOW of T129 “Atak” (5.000kg) at 23°C @ 14.000 ft. Thanks to the dual identical cockpit approach, a game changer introduced by TAI, Pakistani pilots had the opportunity to perform both pilot and gunner roles, from both cockpits. 

Terrific Performance

Performance of the T129 “Atak” Helicopter was evaluated thoroughly during the hottest and highest conditions of Pakistan, evidently the one of the most demanding of the world. 

Following a two-hour long cockpit familiarization training provided by the TAI instructor and test pilots, Pakistan Army Aviation pilots became accustomed to T129 “Atak” Helicopter’s cockpit. “This is the one and only helicopter that beats its brochure values with its terrific performance” said Pakistani pilots from Pakistan Army Aviation.

Within the scope of the Program, 59 (+32 optional) T129 “Atak” Helicopters will be delivered. As of today, 13 T129 Atak Helicopters have been delivered to Turkish Armed Forces and over 7000 flight hours were accumulated. T129 “Atak” has unique survivability features and asymmetric weapon delivery capability. The effective and precise weapon capability includes a 20mm turreted gun with a 500 round capacity, 70mm unguided rockets, Mızrak guided anti-tank missiles, and Cirit 70mm guided air-to-ground missiles and Stinger missiles for air-to-air purposes.