And again, news from Turkey reflecting the rapid growth of the military-industrial potential of this country - on April 28, 2023, the Turkish Defense Industry Directorate (Savunma Sanayii Başkanlığına - SSB) reported that the first prototype of the promising Turkish combat helicopter T929 ATAK-2, created by the Turkish state aircraft manufacturing association Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), made its first flight.
The first prototype of the promising Turkish combat helicopter T929 ATAK-2, created by the Turkish state aircraft manufacturing association Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), in its first flight. The engines on the helicopter have not been capped yet. 04/28/2023 (c) TAIIn February 2019, SSB signed a contract with the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) association to create a new "heavy class combat helicopter" (Ağır Sınıf Taarruz Helikopter) in the interests of the Turkish armed forces under the ATAK-2 program.
The new helicopter should complement and, in the future, replace the much lighter T129 ATAK combat helicopter of approximately 5-ton take-off weight class, which is a licensed derivation of the Italian AW129 helicopter from Leonardo (AgustaWestland).
TAI announced the start of a program to create a heavier than the T129 ATAK combat helicopter with the symbol ATAK-2 back in 2017. At the same time, it was initially supposed to create a helicopter of about 6-7-ton weight class using the carrier system of the multi-purpose T625 helicopter being created by TAI, also of the 6-ton class. However, subsequently, due to the growing demands of the military, the promising ATAK-2 combat helicopter, designated T929, became a 10-ton class machine (that is, comparable to the Boeing AH-64 Apache), which required the creation of a completely new carrier system and the use of two more powerful turboshaft engines, as which were selected (according to at least for prototypes) TV3-117VMA-SBM1V-01T engines with a take-off capacity of 2500 hp produced by the Ukrainian JSC "Motor-Sich" (Zaporozhye).
In June 2021, TAI signed a contract with Motor-Sich JSC for the purchase of 14 TV3-117VMA-SBM1V-01T engines for experimental and pre-production samples of the T929 helicopter. The first two engines were delivered from Zaporozhye to Turkey in January 2022 and are now installed on the first prototype T929. The remaining 12 engines were supposed to be delivered by 2025, but in light of the military situation, the status of these deliveries is unclear. It is also unclear what engines are planned to be installed on serial T929 helicopters - earlier it was mentioned, among other things, about the possibility of organizing licensed production of TV3-117VMA-SBM1V series engines in Turkey.
Currently, the maximum take-off weight of the T929 is declared by TAI at 11,500 kg with a payload weight of "up to 1,500 kg". The helicopter should be equipped with a 30-mm cannon, the main part of the onboard equipment and weapons will probably move from the latest versions of the T129. The widest possible use of Turkish-made systems and equipment has been announced. At the beginning of 2022, the management of TAI stated that the first three serial T929 helicopters should be delivered to the Turkish army aviation in 2025.
It was also reported that TAI is developing a multi-purpose (transport) helicopter T925 in the weight class of 11 tons, with a propeller-motor group from the T929 helicopter. The first flight of the T925 prototype is considered possible in 2024-2025.
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