The General Manager of Turkish Aerospace (TUSAŞ), Dr. Mehmet Demiroğlu, announced the delivery of the T70 General-Purpose Helicopter to the Air Force Command. Demiroğlu stated on social media, “With the ceremony held, we delivered our T70 General-Purpose Helicopter to the Air Force Command. With the latest delivery, we have now reached a total of 100 helicopters delivered, including the T129 ATAK Helicopter.”
The T70 General-Purpose Helicopter Programme is being developed under the coordination of the Secretariat of Defence Industries (SSB), with TUSAŞ as the main contractor and ASELSAN, TEI, Alp Aviation, and Sikorsky as subcontractors. Based on the Sikorsky Aircraft Company’s S70i Helicopter, the T70 General-Purpose Helicopter will be delivered to six different users in Turkiye under a licensed production model. A total of 109 T70 helicopters will be produced under TUHP and are planned to be used by the Land Forces Command, Air Force Command, Special Forces Command, Gendarmerie General Command, General Directorate of Security, and General Directorate of Forestry.
According to Turkish Aerospace’s latest TUSAS Magazine July 2024, Turkish Aerospace has delivered 58 T129 helicopters to the Turkish Land Forces, 13 T129 helicopters have been delivered to the Gendarmerie General Command, and three T129 helicopters have been delivered to the General Directorate of Security. TUSAŞ has exported six helicopters to the Philipinnes Air Force and two to the Nigerian Air Force.
This means that TUSAŞ has delivered 82 T129 ATAK helicopters, and the statement indicates that TUSAŞ has delivered 18 T70 helicopters in the programme.
