A129Cs to carry out force protection and emergency extraction in Herat province
The Italian army will later this month deploy five of its AgustaWestland A129C Mangusta attack helicopters to Afghanistan as part of a force package that will also comprise unmanned air vehicles, transport aircraft, armoured fighting vehicles and additional personnel.
The assets will be deployed as part of Italy's commitment to NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan's eastern Herat province against an increased threat of attack from Taliban forces.
Also involved in the deployment are two Italian air force General Atomics Predator unmanned air vehicles to be used for surveillance and intelligence-gathering duties, plus an additional Lockheed Martin C-130J transport.
The Italian Army Aviation Command's Airmobile Brigade is to deploy the A129Cs - including one to be held as a reserve asset - using Antonov An-124 transports later this month, with the aircraft to be required to conduct force protection missions for ground forces and Italian transport helicopters already deployed in the country.
Sources say that the A129Cs will be configured to the service's latest G-15 software standard and equipped with integrated defensive aids equipment, including an Elettronica ELT-156X(V4) radar warning receiver, Selex Communications/EADS MILDS II (AAR-60) missile warning system, Selex RALM 01/V2 laser warner and MES ECDS-2 chaff and flare dispensers.
The so-called SIAP self-protection package provides automatic detection and response to attacks that make use of man-portable air-defence systems.
The Mangusta pilots have also been trained to conduct the emergency evacuation of a downed helicopter crew or ground troops by carrying them on the aircraft's main landing gear, using an emergency operational procedure developed by the Airmobile Brigade during the A129's previous combat use in Iraq and shown in these exclusive images (left) taken during the deployment in April 2005.
The British Army earlier this year conducted a high-profile personnel rescue attempt in Afghanistan using four Royal Marine commandos who were carried on the wings of two Boeing/Westland Apache AH1 attack helicopters.
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Mangusta pilots are trained to conduct emergency evacuation of personnel |
Source: Flight International
