Hüseyin Avşar, the Head of the Helicopters Department at Turkey’s Undersecretariat of Defence Industries (SSM) told Defence Turkey that discussion of “administrative and financial terms” were taking place with Pakistan in regards to the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) T129 ATAK attack helicopter.
This coincides with a June news report by aviation journalist Alan Warnes (via Monch) of Pakistan holding talks with TAI for 30 T129 attack helicopters. Warnes reported that the Turkish side was hoping for a concrete deal by late 2017 or early 2018.
Pakistan examined the T129 in June 2016. As per TAI, the Pakistan Army was impressed by the T129’s performance in high-altitude conditions and its ferrying range. The Army had flown the P6 from Pano Aqil, the Hindu Kush (at 14,000 ft) and between Quetta and Multan (i.e. 480 km).
During the 2017 International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF), which took place in May in Istanbul, TAI inked a memorandum-of-understanding (MoU) with Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). TAI’s CEO Dr. Temel Kotil followed-up on the IDEF MoU with a visit to PAC at the end of May.
