Gyundoan-Han GH-26 Agŏ
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The Gyundoan-Han GH-26 Agŏ is a Menghean attack helicopter with a secondary troop transport capability in certain models. Originally a licensed copy of the Reberiyan ShGv-5 with downgraded electronics, through a separate, parallel series of improvements and modernizations it has developed a number of major differences, most notably in the distinct location of the flexible 30mm cannon.
Design and development
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe procured licenses for a number of military helicopters, mainly from Letnia. By 1973, the Menghean People's Army was expressing interest in a heavily armed helicopter gunship, motivated in large part by the ongoing proxy war in Dzhungestan.
Sim Jin-hwan initially favored a domestic design, in line with the Daesŭngri DS-5 and Songrim SR-7, but the Gyundoan-Han helicopter design bureau was apparently struggling to move beyond small, lightweight aircraft. After Letnia offered a gunship modification of the Mi-8, which the MPA found inadequate, Reberiya became an unlikely entrant into the competition by offering its ShGv-5. Six airframes were shipped to the DPRM for testing and evaluation in 1975, and after these impressed their operators, Menghe negotiated a production license in 1976. Mass production of the domestic Menghean variant, designated GH-26G, began the following year.