Turkish police gains airborne attack capabilities
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) delivered the first T129B Assault and Tactical Reconnaissance Helicopter to the Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü - Havacılık Daire Başkanlığı (General Directorate of Security - Aviation Department).
The helicopter will be headquartered at Ankara Gölbasi (Ufuk Danismend Polis Heliportu), but because of their attack and reconnaissance capabilities, they are expected to be deployed to the eastern provinces of Turkey, near the Syrian and Iraqi borders. In 2017, the Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü ordered nine T129Bs of which two, serials EM-101 and EM-102, were reported so far.
It is estimated that the Türk Kara Havacilik Komutanlığı (Turkish Army Aviation Command) received 51 TAI T129s (nine Erken Duhul Helikopteri (EDH) or Early Delivery Helicopter variants and 42 T129A/B Phase 1 (FAZ-1) variants until now.
The Türk Jandarma Havacılık Başkanlığı (Turkish Gendarmerie Aviation Directorate) has eighteen T129s on order, of which six were delivered (all in the T129B FAZ-1 variant). The T129 FAZ-II variant is currently under development with TAI and will primarily be used by the Turkish Army Aviation Command.
Photo: Turkish Police (Instagram)