Nigerian army getting Turkish TAI T129 Atak and US Bell AH-1Z helicopters.

According to Turkish media on July 26, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) General Manager Temel Kotil announced that, after the Philippines as the first foreign customer, Nigeria has purchased six T129 Atak helicopters. The contract amounts to nearly USD 269.4 Mn.

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 TAI/AgustaWestland T129 Atak (Picture source: Wikipedia)

The TAI/AgustaWestland T129 Atak is a twin-engine, tandem seat, multi-role, all-weather attack helicopter based on the Agusta A129 Mangusta platform. The T129 was developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) with partner AgustaWestland. The Atak programme was launched to meet the Turkish Armed Forces' requirements for an attack and tactical reconnaissance helicopter. The T129 is the result of the integration of Turkish-developed avionics, airframe modifications, and weapon systems onto the AgustaWestland A129 airframe, with upgraded engines, transmission and rotor blades. It is in use by the Turkish Army and other services including the Turkish Gendarmerie. The helicopter has a unit cost of roughly US$ 50 million.

The Defense Industry Cooperation Agreement between Turkey and Nigeria was signed in October 2021 during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Nigeria.

Bell AH-1Z Viper (Picture source: Wikipedia)

Approved sale of AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters to Nigeria

Let us remind that, as announced by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on April 14, 2022, the US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Nigerian Government of the AH-1Z attack helicopter and related equipment, with an estimated cost of $1 billion, through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mechanism.

More precisely, the Government of Nigeria requested to buy twelve (12) AH-1Z Attack Helicopters; twenty-eight (28) T-700 GE 401C engines (24 installed, 4 spares); and two thousand (2,000) Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guidance sections. Also included is Night Vision Cueing Display (NVCD); commercial variant GPS with Standard Positioning Service (SPS); communication equipment; electronic warfare systems; AN/AVS-9 Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System; M197 20mm machine gun; Target Sight System (TSS); support equipment; spare engine containers; spare and repair parts; tools and test equipment; technical data and publications; personnel training and training equipment; Mission Planning system; U.S. Government and contractor engineering; technical, and logistics support services; U.S. Government and contractor assistance and oversight of facilities construction to include the provisioning of plans, drawings and specifications; $25M of case funds will be allocated for institutional and technical assistance to the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) to continue Air Ground Integration (AGI) program, which includes developing targeting processes that are legally compliant with International Humanitarian Law and the Laws of Armed Conflict; and other related elements of logistics and program support. The total estimated program cost is $997 million.