A Nigerian private defence company, D7G, has published a document that publicly discloses TUSAŞ’s new armament options for the T929 ATAK II attack helicopter.
According to the document, up to 24 CİRİT laser-guided missiles can be carried with all six hardpoints having smart pods
Up to 100 unguided/guided 70 mm rockets can be carried with the tip hardpoints carrying seven-round pods.
For air-to-air missions, 12 MANPADS type (6x2) or two BOZDOĞAN missiles can be carried.
An interesting part is the inclusion of air-launched UAVs. Recently, fitting helicopters with UAVs or loitering munitions has been a subject of interest to provide the helicopters with remote sensors and extensive non-line of sight engagement capability. The U.S. previously tested Altius 600 UAVs from the UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter in a tube-launched configuration as a part of its testing campaign.
The nose gun appears to be decided as a 30 mm weapon with 750 rounds. A mock 30x113 mm weapon was seen during ATAK II’s maiden flight. Compared to 20 mm used on legacy attack helicopters of Turkiye, 30x113 mm offers more destructivity per round with considerably better ammunition economy. Additionally, future developments such as proximity-fused and airburst ammunition can help with countering UAVs and enemy infantry behind cover.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor:Özgür Ekşi
