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The Agusta A129 Mangusta or “Mongoose” is a tandem cockpit attack helicopter that was first manufactured by the Italian Agusta company. Today it continues to be built and developed by AgustaWestland. The project that would spawn the Mangusta was for a very different type of aircraft. Both the Italian and German armies expressed the need for a light observation and anti-tank helicopter. Agusta and the German MBB company joined forces to co-develop just such a helicopter. That was not to be and the partnership never produced a helicopter. Agusta took the groundwork from that project and decided to go for gold by designing a full attack aircraft instead. In 1978 the development project for the Mongoose became official. The A129 carries the distinction of being the first European attack helicopter. That’s not the only unique thing about its history however. It’s also the first helicopter to be have a fully-computerized management system, which significantly reduced how much the crew had to do. The A129 shares a lot with the earlier A109 utility aircraft. The rear sections are one example of this. The distinctive angular fuselage of the A129 serves as an additional form of protection in addition to direct armoring. Designed to deflect projectiles. The composite rotors are also highly-resistant to damage. Like other classic attack helicopters such as the Apache and Cobra, the Mongoose has a crew of two who sit in a tandem configuration. One as the pilot and the other as the gunner. As many as eight of the fearsome and proven Hellfire missiles can be mounted on the Mongoose. Since 2003 the air-to-air Stinger is now also an option. Rockets of both 70 mm and 81 mm varieties are compatible with the A129 and to top it off there’s a 20 mm M197 on the nose-mounted turret. Two Rolls-Royce Gem 2-1004D turboshaft engines keep the craft aloft and are specially designed to minimize the heat signature of the Mongoose. Like the Apache, the Mongoose can operate at night with advanced vision systems and in almost all weather conditions. In total, 60 Mangustas have been built and this European original is still both in service and production.
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