Vertiflite May/June 2021

Forecast International’s 10-year projection of global military rotorcraft deliveries.

in February with first flight expected this year. The heavier, mannedT929 will be a twin-engine, tandem-seat helicopter with a maximum takeoff weight of 12 t. Its first flight is planned to occur in 2023, with deliveries slated to get underway in 2025. Other helicopters in development at Turkish Aerospace include the T625 utility helicopter and a larger, 10-t utility helicopter suitable for search-and-rescue and maritime operations. Turkish Aerospace has also begun production of the T70, a customized version of the Sikorsky S-70i Black Hawk. More than 100 T70s are to be produced for Turkey’s armed forces, national police, and Directorate General of Forestry. Russian Helicopters has an extensive and varied military rotorcraft portfolio, which is one of the principal reasons why the company is one of the market leaders in the military rotorcraft segment. The Mi-8/17 series of multipurpose

Boeing was chosen to supply as many as 84 MH-139s to replace the US Air Force’s UH-1N fleet. Both models are militarized variants of highly successful civil helicopters — the TH-73A is a version of Leonardo’s AW119 light single, while the MH-139 is derived from the company’s AW139 medium twin. Meanwhile, Leonardo is developing an all-new, dedicated attack helicopter, called the AW249, for the Italian Army and export sale. Turkish Aerospace is producing a variant of Leonardo’s AW129 attack helicopter, dubbed the T129 ATAK, for the Turkish Army, and also markets the model for export. The Turkish company has also embarked on a number of programs to develop new military helicopters. Two of these involve new attack helicopters — the T629 and the T929 ATAK 2 (see “Industry Briefs,” pg. 10). The T629 uses the transmission, gearbox and rotors of the six-metric-ton civil T625 Gökbey, making it somewhat larger than the T129; an unmanned T629 electric technology demonstrator was unveiled

May / June 2021

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