AW129’s successor designated as AW249

A report by Dominic Perry for Flight Global says the successor for the AW129 Mangusta attack helicopter has been designated as AW249.

Aircraft Helicopter A-129 Mangusta Attack 1
By Matt Morgan [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Primary contractor – Leonardo Helicopters – told the aviation daily that the company is prepared to work with other nations on the new project.

This suggests Leonardo could team up with Turkish Aerospace Industries again to design this new rotorcraft, which will have a maximum take-off weight of up to eight tons.