A-129 International (p)

A-129 International (p)

A-129 International (p)

Italy

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.7	11.0	9.7

Class:

PREMIUM

Attack helicopter

Utility helicopter

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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Description

The A-129 International Prototype is a premium gift rank VI Italian attack helicopter with a battle rating of 9.7 (AB/SB) and 11.0 (RB). It was introduced in Update 1.93 "Shark Attack".

General info

Flight performance

The A-129 International is a fast, manoeuvrable helicopter. It is lightweight and it has good acceleration. It can perform a lot of manoeuvres faster than other contemporary helicopters and reaches top speed without having to wait much. The A-129 yaws greatly, without suffering the main rotor influence that many other helicopters must deal with.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 1,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)
	AB	RB
Stock	294	285	5,400
Upgraded	315	305

Survivability and armour

The A-129 is lightweight but it hasn't got great armour or survivability. The only armoured parts are the crew compartments, protected by 40 mm bulletproof glass in the front and in the rear, and below from 20 mm of composite armour (boron carbide). .50 cal hits (from the front) usually don't deal much damage, but anything with a superior calibre will. The helicopter rarely resists SPAA hits without getting critically damaged, but it can happen. All SAMs with a proximity fuse will one-shot or critically damage your controls.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The A-129 International (p) is armed with:

• 1 x 12.7 mm FN M3M machine gun (750 rpg)

Suspended armament

A-129 International attacking ground targets with Hydra-70 M247 rockets.

The A-129 International (p) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 76 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets
• 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns (500 rpg = 1,000 total)
• 6 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns
• 38 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets + 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns
• 6 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 38 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets + 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns
• 8 x BGM-71 TOW-2 missiles
• 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles
• 8 x BGM-71 TOW-2 missiles + 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns
• 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles + 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns
• 8 x BGM-71 TOW-2 missiles + 6 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns
• 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles + 6 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns
• 8 x BGM-71 TOW-2 missiles + 3 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 19 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets + 1 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine gun
• 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles + 3 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 18 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets + 1 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine gun
• 8 x BGM-71 TOW-2 missiles + 38 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets
• 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles + 38 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets

Usage in battles

As all helicopters (excluding Ka-50s), you should have a safe playstyle, ensuring that there aren't any SPAAs on the ground and other helicopters/jets in the sky since you haven't got any anti-aircraft missiles. The main advice is to stay at ground level to evade SPAAs' radars and keep looking for the enemy air spawns with the great thermal sight (and great zoom) you have installed on the chopper. The main way to protect yourself from helicopters is to wait for them to hover and using your ATGMs to take them out, but remember, farther you are, worse the accuracy of your missile will be. When you will be attacking ground vehicles, you should stay closer than 6,000 meters to the target in open maps, 4,000 meters in maps with few natural obstacles, like Ash River and 3,000/2,000 meters in maps with a lot of objects that occlude your view, for example, Berlin or Port Novorossiysk.

You will usually meet the ADATS, the Ka-50, radar SPAAs and supersonic jets. For the first vehicle, as said before, stay low and use your radar warning receiver on your low right corner. Act in the most unpredictable way, for example, if you brought Hydras, you could try to get as close as you can and strike (you have enough of them to have an ensured kill). In the case of the Ka-50s, that usually hover in the middle of the air or near obstacles, you should try to get as close as you can to strike with ATGMs, there is no other "long-range" counter. And for supersonic jets, well, you can only pray for an allied SPAA to take 'em down.

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Compressor		Flak jacket	FN HMP400 LCC	IRCM	HL-19-70
II			Helicopter frame		Offensive 12 mm	TOW-2
III	Engine	Replacing helicopter blades	NVD	FN RMP LC		AGM-114
IV			Cover		New 12 mm MGs
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

• It has great agility and manoeuvrability
• The ground attack armament and its capabilities
• It can be harder to spot in dark maps

Cons:

• Not that easy to play
• Absence of air-to-air missiles
• Vulnerable to almost everything

History

The Augusta A129 International, or A129I, was an upgraded version of the A129, and was designed for export. The A129 originally had a four-bladed rotor, but it was changed to a five-bladed type on the International. More powerful LHTEC T800 engines replaced the previous Rolls-Royce Gem engines, and the transmission was also replaced with an upgraded model. Additionally, the electronics and weapons systems were upgraded significantly. It received a chin-mounted three-barreled 20 mm M197 cannon turret and gained the capability to carry American-made BGM-71 TOW or AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). It also received the ability to carry AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missiles (AAMs).

The Italian Army decided to upgrade some of their A129 helicopters to the A129I standard in 1998. The first of the upgraded helicopters were delivered in 2002, and the upgraded A129 helicopters were designated as the AW129 in Italian service.

Media

Images

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See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the helicopter;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Development] A-129 Mangusta

Agusta
Utility	AB 205 A-1* · A.109EOA-2
Attack	A-129 International (p) · A129CBT · AH-129D · T129**
Export	HKP3C
See Also	Bell Aircraft Corporation · TAI
	*Licensed · **Partnership with TAI