Vertiflite May/June 2021

THE VERTICAL FLIGHT SOCIETY Industry Briefs

Three New Turkish Attack Helicopters

radar warning receivers and various electronic warfare systems. The T129 has been in service since 2014. Turkish Aerospace has produced more than 60 examples, which have accrued more than 30,000 flight hours.

AW609 AC4 Tiltrotor Moved to Italy The fourth AW609 (AC4), which is fully representative of the final production configuration, was shipped from Leonardo’s Philadelphia facility, where it was built on its tiltrotor production line, to Genoa harbour in Italy. There it was offloaded and later flew to Leonardo Helicopters’ headquarters in Cascina Costa di Samarate, close to Milan- Malpensa Airport, arriving on March 2. The aircraft will remain there to support the final stage of program testing ahead of civil certification. The AC4 transfer to Italy allows Leonardo to maintain production-representative aircraft both in the US and Italy, as the first prototype (AC1) is now solely used for ground-based and load testing. Later, AC4 will also allow customer-dedicated demonstration activities for European operators and other potential users worldwide, mirroring similar activities to be carried out by aircraft in the US for customers in the Americas and elsewhere. The transfer of AC4 to Italy brings the program to the next market-oriented stage. The industrialization, customer service and training service of the AW609 program is intensifying in Philadelphia through the new training academy and new final assembly hangar. The new academy opened in April and is part of Leonardo’s new $80M investment in US operations that will provide training services for pilots, cabin crews and maintenance technicians for the AW119, AW169 and AW139 models across North and South America, as well as for global customers of the AW609.

T629 Prototype

Turkish Aerospace has unveiled two new attack helicopter prototypes. On Feb. 25, the company displayed the T629 prototype, a 13,300-lb (6-t) derivative of the company’s 11,000-lb (5-t) T129 ATAK — itself an indigenous variant of the Leonardo A129 Mangusta. The T629 was shown as a black, cockpitless demonstrator at the company’s main campus in Kazan, Ankara, Turkey. At the event, it was stated for the first time that the T629 would be unmanned and electric, but not further explained; speculation is that there will also be a manned version.

T929 Mockup

50 Years of Lynx

The company previously stated that the T629 uses the drive system of the 6-tonne civil T625 (see “Turkey Serves Up 8th ARF, Establishes VFS Chapter,” Vertiflite ¸ Jan/ Feb 2020), and that the T629 would be a demonstrator to give the company experience with developing its planned 22,000-lb (10-t) ATAK II indigenous heavy attack helicopter, now designated the T929. A mock-up of the ATAK II was displayed in 2019 (photo shown taken by CeeGee), explaining that it would be twice the weight of the T129 ATAK. In March, the company announced that the T929 would use two 2,500-shp (1,860-kW) engines from Ukraine (i.e. from Motor Sich Joint Stock Company) and was said to fly in 2023. In addition to the 10-t T929 ATAK II, the company is also developing the 10-t T925 General Purpose Helicopter, with significant component commonality with the T929; it is expected to fly in 2025. Meanwhile, Turkish Aerospace has begun delivering T129 ATAK Phase II helicopters to the country’s Land Forces Command and the Turkish National Police. The Phase II version upgrades the T129 with laser warning receivers,

On March 21, 1971, the yellow Westland Lynx prototype (XW835) took off from Yeovil, South Somerset, UK. The now-iconic aircraft piloted by chief test pilot Ron Gellatly completed two short flights of 10 and 20 minutes,

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