Originally Posted by Jim Barry
Different angle?
That mod was developed as part of the four-nation A129 Tonal light attack helicopter (LAH) study, conducted by Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK:
The fairing was presumably an attempt to replicate the AH-64D's extended cheek fairings, for ammo, fuel and/or avionics (i.e. EFABs). The Netherlands and the UK ultimately selected the Apache, with Spain buying the Tiger; Italy continued to develop the AW129 on its own.
For comparison, here's the AW129's standard ammo feed,
sans fairing:
I/C