 {| |} the agusta a129 mangusta () is an attack helicopter originally designed and produced by agusta. it has the distinction of being the first attack helicopter to be designed and produced wholly in europe. it has continued to be developed by agustawestland, the successor company to agusta. the a129 has undergone several combat deployments since entering service with the italian army in the 1990s. a derivative of the a129, the tai/agustawestland t-129 atak, is being developed by turkish aerospace industries (tai), who shall produce the t-129 for the turkish army and potentially other export customers, agustawestland is serving as the primary partner on the t-129. ==development== ===origins=== in 1972, the italian army began forming a requirement for a light observation and anti-tank helicopter; around the same time, the west german military had identified a similar need. the two nations' requirements led to a joint project being initiated between the italian company agusta and west german company mbb; however, the joint effort was soon dissolved following preliminary work. agusta had initially studied the development of a combat-orientated derivative of their existing a109 helicopter, however they decided to proceed with the development of a more ambitious helicopter design.donald, david, ed. "agusta a 129 mangusta". the complete encyclopedia of world aircraft. barnes & noble books, 1997. isbn 0-7607-0592-5. in 1978, agusta formally began the design process on what would become the a129.frawley, gerald. "agustawestland a129 mangusta". the international directory of military aircraft, 2002/2003. aerospace publications, 2002. isbn 1-875671-55-2. on 11 september 1983, the first of five a129 prototypes made the type's maiden flight; the fifth prototype would first fly in march 1986. the italian army placed an order for a total of 60 a129s. ===export market=== thumb|left|an a129 in flight, note the personnel riding on the landing gear in 1986, the governments of italy, the netherlands, spain and the united kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate an improved version of the a129, calle
Agusta_aircraft Italian_helicopters_1980a1989 Military_helicopters