Agusta A129 Mangusta

what is it?

The Agusta A129 Mangusta (English: Mongoose) is an attack helicopter originally designed and produced by Italian company Agusta. It is 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.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 turboshaft engines · 11.9 m main rotor

base stats

• speed 278 km/htop speed
• range 510 kmwithout refuelling
• size 4,600 kgmax take-off weight
• built 66made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 43 years ago, in 1983.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Rotor of 11.9 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight

1983-09-11

introduced

1990

status

still flying

number built

66

role

attack helicopter

origin

🇮🇹 Italy

makers

AgustaWestland, Agusta, Leonardo

engines

2× Rolls-Royce Gem 2-1004D (license built by Piaggio) / Gem

crew

2

length

12.3 m

rotor diameter

11.9 m

height

3.4 m

max take-off weight

4,600 kg

top speed

278 km/h

cruise speed

229 km/h

range

510 km

ceiling

4,725 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.