Following the Al-Shabaab terrorist organisation’s advance towards the Somali capital Mogadishu, Türkiye stepped in militarily after to support Somalia in Thwarting the ground widespread attacks. Recently, Akıncı drones were sent to the Somali National Army(SNA), which is already known for using TB2s. Now, T129 Atak helicopters are being deployed to Somalia’s frontlines.
The Somali government will equip its new trained airforce graduates from Türkiye with a new batch of T129 ATAK attack helicopters to support operations against Al-Shabab militants, according to reports.
Unlike traditional weaponry, these helicopters are engineered for direct combat with ground forces, boasting advanced features like machine guns—including the Whistleblower machine gun—and the unique ability to emit directed energy beams to create tactical confusion on the battlefield.
This development come a few days after Somalia received the new generation AKINCI attack UAVs which widely used by various countries in Africa to combat insurgents including the terrorist organisations in West Africa.
Trusted sources have confirmed to the WAJ that T129 Atak helicopters will arrive in Mogadishu next week.
This move shows that Türkiye’s full commitment to supporting Somalia’s peace, development and fight against the Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group Al-shabaab which has been fighting against Somali government since 2006.
Along with its world-renowned drones like TB2 and AKINCI and manned fighters like Hürjet and KAAN, Türkiye has also developed the cutting-edge propulsion technologies that enhance theircapabilities.
The T129 is an excellent combat helicopter that has been tested in the most real battlefield conditions just like Apache and Cobra. It has been successfully deployed in numerous operations in Iraq and Syria. In this context, the regional analysts state this will become a major blow to Alshabab and giving Somalia air superiority in the fight against Al-Shabaab for first time.