Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi and ARMAEREO (Italian National Armaments Directorate) signed today in Rome a contract worth 120 million Euros to provide the Italian Air Force with further three advanced trainer aircraft M-346 (identified as T-346A by the Italian Air Force), with ground base training system and relevant logistic support included.

The contract is part of a wider agreement already signed by the parties in 2009 for the total supply of 15 M-346s. At that time, a contract for a first tranche of six aircraft and related flight simulators had been signed.

The T-346A contributes to the technological update process on the advanced pilot’s training of Italian Air Force fleet. The aircraft will work as the training pillar for the new generations of air tactical pilots, both Italian and international, at 61° Stormo in Lecce, where the Italian Air Force flight school – opened also to pilot students coming from other Countries – is based.

The M-346 is the most advanced fighter trainer aircraft currently on the market and the only new-generation trainer optimised for the role of training pilots who fly on latest-generation high-performance military planes. 

The M-346 has won the most important international bids (Singapore, Israel and Poland), with a total of 59 aircraft ordered to date. 

The M-346’s Integrated Training System (ITS), actually operating in Lecce military Air Base, includes, further to the aircraft, flight simulators and ground based training systems.