Turkish T129 armed helicopter

According to foreign media reports recently, the United States has allowed Turkey to sell T129 armed helicopters to the Philippines. According to early reports, after Turkey purchased S-400 anti-aircraft missile system from Russia, its external sales of T129 armed helicopters were blocked by the United States. Some analysts believe that the United States has given the green light to Turkey this time to attract the Philippines.

T129 armed helicopter was jointly developed by TAI company and Agusta Westland company. The aircraft uses avionics and weapon systems developed by Turkey, but its turbine engine is jointly manufactured by British Luo Luo company and American Honeywell company, so its export needs to be approved by the United States.

So far, TAI has delivered more than 60 T129 armed helicopters to the Turkish Army and the Gendarmerie General Command. In December 2018, the Philippines signed a cooperation agreement with Turkey to purchase six T129 armed helicopters for domestic anti-terrorism and other needs after multiple rounds of testing and comparison.

As Turkey purchased S-400 air defense missile systems from Russia, the US Turkish relationship turned sharply downward. The US took a series of sanctions against Turkey, including excluding Turkey from the F-35 fighter program and prohibiting the export of arms and equipment related parts to Turkey. Turkey's T129 armed helicopter project was blocked.

Some analysts believe that the green light given by the United States to Turkey's arms sales this time is not intended to improve US Turkey relations, but to show goodwill to the Philippines. As we all know, the Philippines is a traditional ally of the United States. But since President Duterte of the Philippines took office, he has actively promoted an independent foreign policy, leading to changes in US Philippines relations. On the one hand, the Philippines intends to keep a distance from the United States government and claims to end all forms of military cooperation between the United States and the Philippines. On the other hand, in terms of economy and trade, diplomacy, regional affairs, etc., the Philippines keeps moving closer to neighboring countries and Russia, and tries to maintain balance among major countries.

After the Biden administration took office, in order to reshape the leadership of the United States, it attached great importance to the military alliance. The Philippines' geographical position in the Asia Pacific region was important. With the advancement of the United States' "Indo Pacific Strategy", the United States needed the Philippines to cooperate in all aspects in the Western Pacific region, so the United States tried to recalibrate its relations with the Philippines.

In January 2021, U.S. Secretary of State Lincoln reiterated in a phone call with the Philippine Foreign Minister that a strong U.S. - Philippines alliance is essential to the free and open "Indo Pacific region", and stressed the importance of the U.S. - Philippines Joint Defense Treaty for the security of the two countries. From April 12 to 23, the Philippines and the United States held the 36th "shoulder to shoulder" joint military exercise. Philippine Defense Minister Lorenzana said that the exercise reflected "the rock solid relationship between the two countries".

For a long time, the United States has used arms export licensing as a means to fight against dissidents and attract "allies". It can be seen that for the Philippines, the release of Turkish T129 helicopter gunships by the United States is just a "bait", not a goal. (Lan Shunzheng and Xiao Hui)

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