Pakistan and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) have signed a contract to bring home 30 of T129 ATAK multirole attack helicopters.
The helicopters will be in service of the Pakistan Aviation Corps (PAAC). The helicopters will arrive with a package consisting of ammunition, spare parts, training and other things.
The total contract value for these 30 helicopters is said to be around $1. 5 billion which is the biggest Turkey’s defense sale in recent decades.
The T129 ATAK multirole attack helicopters are being bought with the purpose of replacing the old and worn out fleet of Pakistan’s AH - 1F Cobra helicopter gunships.
These helicopters were acquired from the U. S back in 1984 - 1986 era. By 2013, Pakistan had 35 of these helicopters in use but the cost of maintaining these old helicopters has been very difficult.
Pakistan tried to acquire the AH - 1z Viper or AH - 64 Apache from the U. S to replace these copters but their request was refused, causing Pakistan to look for other foreign attack helicopters.
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