$208 Million Contract Includes A Spare Parts Package

The defence ministry of Turkey has awarded a contract to AgustaWestland for nine T129 combat helicopters. The aircraft will be assembled by Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc. (TAI) and delivered by mid 2012 in a basic configuration, one year ahead of the 51 T129s already on order. This contract increases the total ordered by the Turkish Land Forces Command to 60.

T-129 Helicopter

TAI is the Prime Contractor for the overall ATAK Program, with ASELSAN as the supplier of avionics and mission equipments while AgustaWestland is acting as subcontractor to TAI. As the Prime Contractor of the ATAK Program, TAI is responsible for ensuring the T129 ATAK helicopter meets all the operational requirements of the Turkish Land Forces Command.

"The announcement at this stage of the program confirms (the) customer's confidence in the capabilities of the platform, as well as the ability of the ATAK Team to manage on schedule the development of the most important Turkish aerospace programme ever," said Giuseppe Orsi, CEO, AgustaWestland. "Moreover it confirms how the partnership between AgustaWestland and its partners is able to effectively respond to customer's urgent requirements allowing the Turkish Land Forces to achieve (sic) T129 operational readiness one year (ahead of schedule)".

The $208 million contract announced Tuesday includes a spare parts package. The T129 System Requirements and Preliminary Design Reviews were completed in 2009. The Critical Design Review is expected to be completed shortly, with significant improvements introduced to add additional sophisticated mission equipment specified by the Turkish Land Force Command and SSM. That includes the new Turkish UMTAS missile. Prototypes are being assembled in both Italy and Turkey starting their flight test program in January 2011.

FMI: www.agustawestland.com