Agusta A-129 Mangusta Low-poly 3D model

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. It has been exclusively operated by the Italian Army, which introduced the type to service during 1990.

The A129 has undergone several combat deployments, seeing use in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. It has proven well suited to operating in hot climates, as well as quite flexible in the field. The original 60 rotorcraft have been upgraded multiple times since entering service with the Italian Army; improvements have included compatibility with additional munitions, new targeting systems, improved avionics, better data-handling, and a more powerful transmission. Various improvements and export models have been proposed, including dedicated naval and reconnaissance variants. Perhaps the most notable derivative of the A129 is the TAI/AgustaWestland T129 ATAK, which has been developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries in cooperation with AgustaWestland for the Turkish Army as well as other services and export customers. Since 2017, work has been underway on a large successor to the A129 for the Italian Army, known as the Leonardo Helicopters AW249.

In 1972, the Italian Army began forming a requirement for a light observation and anti-tank helicopter one prominent factor in shaping this requirement was the need to address the threat posed by the extensive military assets in operation with the Warsaw Pact countries and those of the Soviet Union. Around the same time as the Italian efforts were underway, the West German military had also identified a similar need. The two nations' parallel requirements ultimately led to a joint project being initiated between the Italian company Agusta and West German company MBB; however, this cooperative effort did not last long, and was dissolved shortly after preliminary work had been undertaken. Agusta had initially studied the development of a combat-oriented derivative of their existing A109 helicopter, however they decided to proceed with the development of a more ambitious helicopter design.

In 1978, Agusta formally began the design process on what would become the A129. On 11 September 1983, the first of five A129 prototypes made the type's maiden flight; the fifth prototype would first fly in March 1986. Around the same time, the Italian Army placed an order for a total of 60 A129s. At one stage, a total of 100 attack helicopters had been planned to be purchased but this was slashed to 60 A129s. Another version of the type was to be capable of hauling eight troops in addition to its firepower capabilities; this variant, referred to sometimes as the A139, never got off the ground. According to defence publication Jane's Information Group, by 1985, the A129 was considered to be a comparable attack helicopter to the American-built McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache, and showed potential on the export market.