National 20 mm Turreted Gatling Gun System for the T129 ATAK Helicopter
The rotary-barrel (3-barrel) turreted gun system, capable of firing 750 rounds per minute of 20 mm (20 mm x 102 mm) caliber ammunition, developed and produced domestically and nationally by TR MEKATRONİK—a joint venture of SARSILMAZ (50%) and TUSAŞ (50%)—was showcased at the SARSILMAZ booth during the IDEF '25 Fair. Garnered significant attention at the fair, this system is intended for use on the HÜRKUŞ-C Close Air Support Aircraft, alongside a 12.7 mm Weapon Pod featuring the SARSILMAZ SAR 127 MT (12.7 x 99 mm heavy machine gun). Another 20 mm rotary-barrel (6-barrel) gatling gun developed for the National Fixed-Wing Aircraft projects also exhibited at SARSILMAZ booth.
As of July 2025, four units of the 20 mm rotary-barrel turreted gun systems have been exported to Nigeria. Furthermore, feedback from flight tests on two T129 ATAK Helicopters used by TUSAŞ—equipped with TR MEKATRONİK's 20 mm Turreted Gatling Gun System—has been incorporated to make improvements to the system. The Gendarmerie Aviation Command became the first user of the TR MEKATRONİK 20 mm Turreted Gatling Gun System after Nigeria, receiving the 14th T129 ATAK Helicopter in early July, fully equipped with both the indigenous and national 20 mm Turreted Gatling Gun System and ASELSAN's ASELFLIR-410 E/O FLIR System featuring SWIR camera capabilities (additionally integrated with the MWS-TU Missile Warning System sensor). We assess that a 6-barrel (Gatling-type) 20 mm gun, equivalent to the 20 mm (20 mm x 102 mm) M61 Vulcan cannon used on F-16 and F-4E 2020 aircraft, is currently in the development phase and can be integrated into national platforms either within the fuselage or in pods. Unlike the M61 Vulcan, this 20 mm rotary-barrel (6-barrel) gun employs a linear linkless feed system and an electric drive mechanism instead of a drum-type linked feed. It is also planned for use as an air defence system against drone threats (particularly those capable of swarm attacks). As the primary weapon of an aircraft, the 20 mm 6-barrel Gatling gun currently achieves a rate of fire of 2,000 rounds per minute, and over 3,000 rounds per minute when employed as an air defence system.
During our visit to the SARSILMAZ booth in Hall 7, we had the opportunity for a brief interview with TR MEKATRONİK General Manager Dr. Fatih ÇEVİK regarding the 20 mm rotary-barrel (3-barrel) turreted gun system developed for T129 ATAK Helicopters.
Defence Turkey: Could you inform us on the similarities and differences between the 20 mm Turreted Gatling Gun System produced by TR MEKATRONİK and the TM 197B turret, which uses the 20 mm M197 Gatling gun mounted on T129 ATAK Helicopters?
Dr. Fatih ÇEVİK: We fired over 90,000 rounds in our lifecycle endurance tests with this weapon. If you ask what differences from the original weapon are, our primary requirement was to be able to remove one and install the other. Therefore, we had to remain faithful to the mechanical interfaces, but our differences include solutions to the frequent failures we observed in the feeder of the other weapon system. These aspects were quite challenging in our design, but we developed solutions for them. I believe it's running much more trouble-free now. I think the MTBF (mean time between failures) values of the feeder will be significantly better than the original product. Beyond that, we have other changes: the servo motors have their own controllers integrated into them, whereas normally they were all collected in a box inside the helicopter. In our case, the servos have their own onboard controllers, so the weight of the electronic control unit has been reduced by half compared to the other system, with fewer electrical components inside. That's one of our differences. Otherwise, to use the same ballistic algorithms, factors like muzzle velocity, dispersion, etc., had to be similar. We conducted studies on these as well. Everything is similar. We have a muzzle velocity of 1050 m/s. The equivalent gun has the same. We fire 750 rounds per minute. We can maintain this 750 rpm more consistently. The other one has a different concept of electric motor, while ours has a speed-controlled electric motor. We made such improvements to maintain the weapon's firing rate. Beyond that, everything is 100% indigenous and national, with absolutely no spare parts issues.
Defence Turkey: What is the barrel life?
Dr. Fatih ÇEVİK: Regarding barrel life, the foreign origin product has a specific firing pattern. In that pattern, it recommends changing a set (all three barrels) after approximately 20,000 rounds. In our own tests, we saw it reach up to 24,000, but to stay faithful to the original manual, we also specify 20,000 rounds. Of course, there are different checks for this. Headspace adjustment controls can be performed. The barrel wear is examined. Initial velocity and dispersion are measured to decide whether to continue. But I can say that we are in a better position in terms of service life. We finished our service life tests with 600 round continuous firing. You may have seen the footage, or maybe not, we fired until the barrels turned bright red hot. Then, after the same barrels cooled to ambient temperatures, we measured the initial velocity and dispersion values again, and in our tests, we saw that they met all criteria, including headspace adjustment.
Defence Turkey: The TR MEKATRONİK 20 mm Turreted Gatling Gun System has begun to be installed on T129B Helicopters and has even been delivered to both domestic and international users. What is your production capacity? Is there any agenda for replacing the TM197B systems on previously delivered T129A/B Helicopters with the national 20 mm Turreted Gatling Gun System?
Dr. Fatih ÇEVİK: We don't actually sell the gun for T129 ATAK Helicopters directly to anyone. TUSAŞ is our customer. Then, wherever TUSAŞ sells the T129 Helicopter, our product goes there. We supply our serial productions to TUSAŞ in the quantities they request. ATAK Helicopters, equipped with our weapons, have been sold abroad as well. The first domestic uses were one to Gendarmerie Aviation and one to Police Aviation. We will improve further with feedback from there. We are currently continuing our serial production at the rate requested by TUSAŞ. Therefore, this is a system that has entered serial production. All our qualification tests are completed.
Defence Turkey: What can you say about the domestic contribution or localization rate?
Dr. Fatih ÇEVİK: We are well above 95%. Everything is completely domestic. We produce all the critical technologies domestically anyway. It’s not like we just produce turret and then have to go abroad for barrels, ending up in situations like "Give us the barrels, have they arrived yet? It’s been years since we ordered." Everything you see here is designed by Turkish engineers and completely domestically produced. Therefore, we have no issues, and when exporting, we have no export-restricted materials. Our product can be exported to any country permitted by the Ministry of National Defence.
Defence Turkey: So, you supply to TUSAŞ, and TUSAŞ sells it on the ATAK Helicopter. T129B ATAK Helicopters have been sold to users in Türkiye, as well as to the Philippines and Nigeria. When it comes to spare parts and maintenance/repair needs for the 20 mm Turreted Gatling Gun System, is the address still TUSAŞ, or will the system be sent to you for maintenance and repair?
Dr. Fatih ÇEVİK: We generally provide training to TUSAŞ on that matter; there are spare parts that they can directly replace. When maintenance is needed, we can also do it very quickly. Maintenance processes that used to take years when working with foreign suppliers—1 year, 1.5 years—are now completed around 2-3 weeks with us. So, there's no issue from that perspective. As you know, TR MEKATRONİK is 50% owned by Sarsılmaz and 50% by TUSAŞ. That was the purpose of establishing our company.
Defence Turkey: Previously, after Türkiye succeeded in producing a 20 mm Gatling gun, it was claimed that Italy also requested guns from Türkiye. Is it true that Italy requested guns from us?
Dr. Fatih ÇEVİK: Yes, although it didn't turn into a very official situation, it is true that there was an informal request. There are also foreign demands for integration of just our weapon from the ATAK configuration onto different platforms (land, air, sea). I hope we meet at the next IDEF having achieved some of these potential exports
