Leonardo T-346A Master - Italian Air Force - Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) 2025 (Sunday)

Описание: A Leonardo T-346A Master of 311 Gruppo , Italian Air Force Experimental Flight (Reparto Sperimentale Volo), displaying on Sunday of The Royal International Air Tattoo 2025 at RAF Fairford, UK.

The Leonardo M-346 is a twin-engine advanced jet trainer which began life as a joint project between Alenia Aermacchi of Italy and Yakovlev of Russia. The project eventually split resulting in the visually similar M-346 and Yak-130. The highly advanced systems of the M-346 are able to simulate the radar and weapon systems of any western combat aircraft. In addition, instructors flying simulators on the ground will appear as virtual aircraft on the systems of M-346s in the air allowing for mock dogfights and combat training without the expense of always requiring a second aggressor aircraft. The M-346 has been chosen by multiple nations as their new advanced trainer and an armed version has also been developed which has been ordered by Nigeria and Turkmenistan.

The Italian Air Force operate the M-346 as the T-346A in the advanced jet trainer role. The air force operates a core fleet of 18 aircraft and serve as the final stage in training before pilots move on to the frontline. Italy has also set up the International Flight Training School in conjunction with Leonardo which uses both the 18 Italian aircraft plus 4 owned by Leonardo. The school moved to Sicily in 2022 and currently trains pilots from Qatar, Japan, Germany, Singapore, Austria, Canada, UK and Saudi Arabia.

The Italian Air Force T-346A solo display is flown by test pilots from the 311° Gruppo, known as the Reparto Sperimentale Volo (Experimental Flight Unit).

The T-346/M-346 is tailored to train pilots to fly the new generation of combat aircraft and is well suited for every phase of advanced and pre-operational training, to reduce the flight hours on the more expensive aircraft. The aircraft features avionics modelled upon those of new generation military aircraft such as Eurofighter, Gripen, Rafale, F-16, F-22 and the future Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

The type is currently operated by the air forces of Italy, Israel, Singapore, Qatar, Greece and Poland. Since 2016 the manufacturer became Leonardo-Finmeccanica as Alenia Aermacchi merged into the new Finmeccanica, finally rebranded as Leonardo in 2017

The M-346 – a twin-engine, tandem-seat aircraft with fully digital flight controls and avionics – is equipped with a fly-by-wire flight control system with quadruple redundancy, a modern human-machine interface with Head-Up Displays (HUD) and Multi-Function Displays (MFD), Hands On Throttle And Stick (HOTAS) controls and in-flight safety features such as the Pilot Activated Attitude Recovery System (PARS). The M-346 can operate in complete autonomy with the aid of its Auxiliary Power Unit (APU).

The training system features integrated on-board technology to simulate tactical training – the Embedded Tactical Training System (ETTS) – allowing the aircraft to emulate sensors, weapons and Computer Generated Forces (CGF). It also enables pilots to interact in real-time, through Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) training that features aircraft in flight (Live), simulators (Virtual) and computer-generated force/threat generated environments (Constructive).

The system is completed by the Ground Based Training System (GBTS), which consists of various flight and mission simulation systems, multi-media and classroom courses, mission planning and training management systems, and an integrated logistic support (ILS) service that optimises fleet and simulator management for maximum operational use.

The wide flight envelope, high thrust-to-weight ratio and ‘carefree’ manoeuvrability at high angles of attack make the M-346’s handling similar to that of next-generation combat aircraft, like the Eurofighter Typhoon or the F-35. This maximises training effectiveness and reduces flight hours on front line aircraft.

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