Agusta A129 Mangusta

Agusta · Italy · first flew 1983 · helicopter

A compact, agile twin-turboshaft European attack helicopter with a tandem cockpit and stub-wing weapon hardpoints, the first such design built in Western Europe.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, rotary
E — Engines	2 × turboshaft, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	Slim attack-helicopter fuselage with a chin gun turret on upgraded variants
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Tandem stepped cockpit with the gunner in front and the pilot raised behind
Stub wings with hardpoints for anti-tank missiles and rocket pods
Slim attack-helicopter fuselage with a chin gun turret on upgraded variants

The narrow stepped tandem cockpit and stub weapon wings mark it as an attack helicopter. Its small size relative to the Apache, and a chin gun turret on later variants, help pin down the Mangusta specifically.

Specifications

The Agusta A129 Mangusta has a length of 14.29 m (47 ft).
It has a wingspan of 11.9 m (39 ft).
Its maximum speed is 290 km/h (180 mph).
Typical crew: 2 (pilot, gunner).

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Agusta flew the A129 Mangusta in September 1983, producing Italy's and Europe's first indigenous dedicated attack helicopter. It used twin turboshafts and an early digital management system in a slim two-seat airframe built around anti-tank missiles.

Variants

The baseline anti-tank A129 was followed by the A129 CBT Combat version with uprated engines and a three-barrel chin gun, marketed as the AW129 International. The Turkish T129 ATAK is a developed derivative.

Where you'll see it

In Italian Army service since the early 1990s and deployed on peacekeeping and combat operations in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. It saw no UK operational service.

Related aircraft

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