A-129 International (p)
.jpg)
Contents
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 | 5400 |
| 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.
Modifications and economy
2 × 50 / 270 / 430 % 2 × 226 / 226 / 226 % | Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Offensive armament
The A-129 International (p) is armed with:
- 1 x 12.7 mm FN M3M machine gun (750 rpg)
Suspended armament
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)
- 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns + 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
- 8 x BGM-71 TOW-2 missiles
- 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles
- 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns + 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 + 6 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 8 x BGM-71 TOW-2 missiles
- 2 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine guns + 6 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles
- 1 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine gun + 3 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 19 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets + 8 x BGM-71 TOW-2 missiles
- 1 x 12.7 mm FN M3P machine gun + 3 x FFAR Mighty Mouse rockets + 18 x Hydra-70 M247 rockets + 8 x AGM-114B Hellfire missiles
- 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.
As a first spawn, the A-129 International can be devastatingly effective or next to useless. On open maps, it is not recommended taking it as a first spawn as you will be lit up by the entirety of the enemy team (unless you flank behind their spawn, but by then the enemy would be spread out across the map) and if any enemy took any SPAAs to the battle first, then good luck trying to survive that. On urban maps, like Advance to the Rhine, Port Novorossiysk, and Alaska, the A-129 works way better as not every enemy can see you and you can plan a good attack route with the help of your thermal vision devices.
As a mid to late game spawn, the Hellfire missiles are very effective at destroying ground units. As for the TOW missiles, they can work, but you must be at a very closer range if you want to destroy any ground targets with them, and being closer to the battlefield with such a ranged advantage with the Hellfire isn't ideal. Combined with Hydras and/or machineguns you can either land and rearm for more missiles or go in guns blazing with the remaining Hydras/Machineguns stowed after taking out a couple of tanks with the Hellfires. (This is usually a late game strategy, and it is pretty effective and very fun!). It works well during late game because cleaning up an active area is always useful and it usually ensures victory.
Overall, the A-129 International is a very capable helicopter. It has great agility, with a good acceleration rate and a great turning ability. It is ever so capable when it comes to taking out the enemy ground units, as with the wide selection of armaments, there are many potent and fun ways to blow up some tanks. As for air targets, it's best to let allied SPAA and/or aircraft/helicopters deal with them for you, although sight stabilisation combined with the machinegun can help you defend against enemy aircraft in a pinch. The Hellfires are very good at taking out the enemy ground targets and combined with Hydras, they can really deal some damage.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Has great agility and manoeuvrability and a good acceleration rate
- Wide selection of ground attack armaments, AGM-114B Hellfires and Hydra-70 unguided rockets are especially worth noting
- Can be hard to spot in dark maps (provided enemies do not have thermal vision)
- Thermal equipment makes it easier to spot targets
- 12.7 mm FN M3P turret machine gun can be effective against approaching air targets combined with rockets
- Ballistic computer greatly improves rocket and machine gun accuracy
- Radar warning receiver (RWR) and IRCM devices are available
Cons:
- Absence of air-to-air missiles somewhat limits its anti-air capability
- The helicopter is fragile and is unable to take hits unlike some of its counterparts
- 12.7 mm turret machine gun can only damage light ground units in any large capacity
- 12.7 mm turret machine gun, with its low rate of fire and low muzzle velocity, is not suited for use against enemy aerial vehicles - most jets and helicopters are resistant to 12.7 mm bullets
History
The Agusta 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.
Store History
The A129 Mangusta helicopter is the first attack helicopter to be fully designed and manufactured in Western Europe. The composite materials are widely used in the construction of the fuselage with tandem crew placement, which improved its survivability. For the first time, a computerized control system was installed on this helicopter, giving operational control by the crew. The premium modification A129 International prototype is a prototype, developed in the 90s and with improved armament, in comparison to the original version of the helicopter. The armament of this model consists of a 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on a chin turret, and also various combinations of additional ordnance, including up to 8 ATGMs TOW-2 or AGM-114B Hellfire, up to 76 unguided rockets and two 12.7 mm gunpods.
Media
- Images
- Store Pack Images
- Devblog Images
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
| 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 | |
| Italy helicopters | |
|---|---|
| Utility | AB 205 A-1 · A.109EOA-2 |
| Attack | A-129 International (p) · A129CBT · AH-129D · T129 |
| Hungary | ◔Mi-24D · ◔Mi-24V · ◔Mi-24P |
