T-129 ATAK helicopters (PHOTO: X)
Back in 2022, Pakistan scrapped a $1.5 billion deal to buy 30 attack helicopters from Turkey. This came just two weeks after Islamabad had agreed to purchase the T-129 ‘ATAK’ helicopters from Turkish Aerospace Industries.
The T-129 is a beefed-up version of Italy’s A-129, and that deal would have been the first export contract for the ATAK. But here’s where things got complicated: these helicopters run on engines built by LHTEC, a partnership between Rolls-Royce and the US company Honeywell.
The Trump administration refused to let LHTEC export the engines to Pakistan, so the whole thing fell apart before it even got going.
Fast forward almost four years. Now it’s Bangladesh stepping in. Reports say Bangladesh has agreed to buy six T-129 ATAKs from Turkish Aerospace Industries.
They’re going for these choppers as part of a bigger push to modernise their air force, pairing them with Eurofighter Typhoon jets for a real upgrade.
Bangladesh calls this plan “Forces Goal 2030,” and locking in both helicopter and fighter jet deals is a big leap toward that target.
Turkish Aerospace Industries built these twin-engine, tandem-seat attack helicopters with help from AgustaWestland. The T-129s aren’t just for show, they’re designed for counter-insurgency, border security, and hitting enemy forces before they can reach your own troops.
In combat, they can cut off enemy reinforcements and supplies, making it tough for anyone to fight back against a ground assault.
Armed with Turkish-made UMTAS anti-tank missiles that reach up to 20 kilometers and Cirit laser-guided rockets with an 8-kilometre range, plus a 20mm cannon mounted under the nose, these choppers pack a punch.
Pilots get top-notch sensors and a digital avionics suite, so they can spot, track, and hit targets fast, even flying low over rough ground, according to Defence Security Asia.
Right now, air forces in Somalia, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Türkiye already fly the T-129s. For Bangladesh, the deal reportedly sits around $600 million.
Bangladesh wants to seal the agreement with Turkey by the 2025–26 fiscal year, aiming to have the helicopters delivered in sync with the arrival of the Eurofighter Typhoons by 2027.
Why did Bangladesh pick the T-129s over American alternatives like the AH-1Z Viper? Politics played a role, according to reports. Plus, Turkey is willing to offer maintenance support and even transfer some technology despite some bumps ahead for integrating the new hardware into Bangladesh’s current setup.
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