Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainer

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Citation :

DATE:16/06/09
SOURCE:Flight Daily News
PARIS AIR SHOW: Finmeccanica confident of M-346 contract 'this week'
By Craig Hoyle

Finmeccanica (hall 2A) expects Italy to sign a delayed production contract for the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainer within the coming days, and is considering offering the aircraft to the US Air Force.

"The Italian air force should soon sign the contract about the first batch of M-346s," says chief operating officer Giorgio Zappa. "We are waiting for the signature, and feel this week could be profitable." Long-running discussions over the 15-aircraft deal have been complicated by "bureaucracy and the delays this causes," he adds.

Sales of the M-346 - also selected for a 48-aircraft deal worth around €1 billion ($725 million) with the United Arab Emirates - are among growth targets for the Finmeccanica group. Other potential customers include Chile, Ecuador, Greece, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the US, where the type could be offered to the US Air Force in partnership with Boeing.

"The USA in the future will represent an even bigger market for us," says chief executive Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, who now describes the market as second only to Italy by business value. The company also plans to open new sites in seven nations in the near future, including Brazil, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. "The whole idea is to be closer to our customers," he says.

In an example of future business co-operation, Alenia Aeronautica has also announced a joint venture with Abu Dhabi Autonomous Systems Investments to design and develop medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicles.

Guarguaglini is optimistic about Finmeccanica's ability to pass through the global economic downturn with its wider business prospects intact. Speaking about overall prospects for 2009, he says: "If this crisis is not going to last a long time then the impact will be limited. If it lasts longer we will have to think of ways of dealing with it. But we are beginning to see a start of the recovery".

Cet avion devra peut être un jour remplacer les À jet

Ça sera celui-ci qui remplacera nos A-Jet, et servira de mission COIN, j'en suis sûr.

Mon rêve le plus cher c'est une 12aine de A-10 Tunderbolth..HS

Citation :

PUBLISHED: 07 NOVEMBER 2021 LAST UPDATED: 07 NOVEMBER 2021



M346 LFFA spotted in a new livery

On 5 November 2021, Leonardo M346 LFFA (Light Family Fighter Attack) CPX625 made its first flight in a new attractive camouflage livery with different tones of grey and brown.

CPX625 is the first prototype in this version and has already made, although in primer, its first flight ever from Leonardo's factory field Venegono (VA) on 13 July 2020. The LFFA is a new version of the advanced Aermacchi (now Leonardo) M346 twin-engine trainer. It is an evolution of the dual role FT (Fighter Trainer) and FA (Fighter Attack) version, designed to meet air forces's growing and diversified operational requirements.

The M346 LFFA variant is designed to retain the full dual role capability of the basic M346 AJT (Advanced Jet Trainer) version, already in service with the air forces of Italy, Israel, Poland and Singapore, while incorporating also some new features like a tactical data link, Grifo-346 mechanical scan multi-mode radar, IFF system (Identification Friend or Foe), Defensive Aid Sub System (DASS) and a stronger airframe. It also has two additional wing tip hardpoints (seven hardpoints in total) able to carry two air-to-air missiles, maintaining at the same time the full dual role capability and the entire extremely advanced Integrated Training System.

This new version is suitable for a number of mission types and the external stores that can be carried amounts to more than two tons in addition to the 138 gallons in each auxiliary fuel tank of the basic AJT version. With its new and upgraded avionics and new radar it can fly strike missions, Homeland Security and Air Policing missions, support missions for complex Personnel Recovery/Combat Search And Rescue operations and reconnaissance missions.

Photo by Tiziano Capenti/AP2L


https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/m346-lffa-spotted-in-a-new-livery