Leonardo M-346 Thread

TomcatViP said:
The success story today has an unexpected outcome:
www.defensenews.com

Israel, Greece sign $1.7 billion deal for Air Force training

The Hellenic Air Force will acquire 10 M-346 aircraft, and Israel’s Elbit Systems will establish a flight school and maintain training aircraft.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com

Notice how the Greek armed services, weeks ago still unduly overlooked among Europeans just completly reshaped the Southern defence of the Non-Nato alliance of that continent (Greece, Israel, UAE that will probably aggregates more Mediterranean actors).

And amazingly the raw cost of the contract will put the M-346 in the same ballpark as the Rafale, according to the recent sale (?).
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Well if you are going to get your pilots trained and your own trainers trained you might as well go to one of the best.
 
Nigeria to receive 6 M-346 this year

kind of interested if the M-346 ever went head to head with its cousin, the Yak-130. it was long assumed that they would focus on different markets, but Nigeria seems to be a place that buys east and west. their M-346 will lead into their new JF-17s

sundiatapost.com

6 of 24 M-346FA aircraft Nigeria ordered from Italy to be delivered before Q3, 2021 – SundiataPost

At least six aircraft of the 24 Leonardo M-346FA light fighter aircraft ordered by Nigeria will be delivered before Q3/2021. The modern Italian platform is inte
sundiatapost.com sundiatapost.com
 
more good news for the M-346
another order with Elbit which seems to be related to Greece
also another undisclosed customer

www.flightglobal.com

Leonardo nets ‘major export order’ for M-346 trainer

Leonardo appears to have secured a new order for its M-346 advanced jet trainer on top of a likely commitment from Elbit Systems for the type.
www.flightglobal.com www.flightglobal.com
 
May 31st news but not posted yet
theaviationist.com

M-346 In Exotic Color Scheme For Undisclosed Export Customer Breaks Cover

An M-346 sporting the color scheme resembling the one applied to the Turkmenistan or Azerbaijan's jets has been spotted in Italy last week. A pretty
theaviationist.com theaviationist.com

unknown M-346 export flying around
M-346-exotic-color-scheme.jpg


based on the colors..could be
Azeri
article_5d398a6510b4d5_76892307.jpg

or Turkmen..
71_big.jpg


I put my money on Turkmen since Leonardo actually went there to promote it
 
two days ago, a video of the Turkmenistan president flying in the M-346 emerges
this also means officially, Turkmenistan was that "secret" customer. case closed


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f51lG_SH_kI


I am also surprised they went for the M-346 instead of the Yak-130. I had assumed that the two agreed, as a part of the split, to focus on different markets.
 
Following the delivery of the M-346, the Polish Air Force entered a transition phase and now, with this certification, Polish pilots will be able to complete at Dęblin all their advanced training up to the IFF phase. Notably, the training was certified also for the future F-35 pilots therefore, like their 4th gen counterparts, they will only move to the United States when ready to attend the F-35 B-Course at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. The assessment team also found room for further improvement, beginning from the number of flight simulators.
Click to expand...

M-346_Bielik_Certification_2.jpg


theaviationist.com

U.S. Air Force Certifies Polish Air Force M-346 Training System For Future F-16 And F-35 Pilots

The certification attests that the training of Polish pilots is equivalent to the training performed in the USA on the T-38C up to the Introduction to
theaviationist.com theaviationist.com
 
GTX said:
About on par with the T-50 family:
  • M346: 153 delivered or on order across 11 operators
  • T-50 family: 272 delivered or on order across 7 operators
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The number differences are quite huge to call that they are on par, imo. T-50 variant export numbers are already as much as total M-346 production and order combined. At this point they are clearly in different market segments, although their variants overlap in terms of intended roles.
 
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windcalm said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1811738762121986254
View: https://x.com/Bartek71065132/status/1811738762121986254?t=Bh8ygNQBf1fAI9Ca380vwQ&s=19


theaviationist.com

Polish Air Force M-346 Demo Aircraft Crashes in Gdynia

Footage circulated online shows the M-346 Bielik crashing into the ground during its display rehearsal. Today, during a rehearsals for the Gdynia Naval
theaviationist.com theaviationist.com
Click to expand...

The pilot was clearly flying too low for that manoeuvre and didn't stand a chance of ejecting:(.

On another note the M-346 is a rather attractive looking design.
 
It is attractive aesthetically but it’s in a weird spot being two engined but not having the same latent performance of its general rivals. Are the production models even mildly supersonic like the prototypes? A version with afterburners almost seems necessary now to compete with the likes of the T-50, T-7, Hurjet, etc to offer the full performance spectrum. At that point you have a western L-15, which makes the M-346 even more ironic relative to its origins.

The M-346 as it is does have a specific place from a trainer POV. Multi-engine training and redundancy is still relevant as a light strike platform being subjected to AAA or in a potential carrier training variant.
 
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NMaude said:
The pilot was clearly flying too low for that manoeuvre and didn't stand a chance of ejecting:(.

On another note the M-346 is a rather attractive looking design.
Click to expand...
It´s way too early to make any definitive comment and the video quality isn´t of much help but I think the pilots wasn´t manoeuvring. I see him instead trying to recover from what looks to be a descending rolls series (intended or not (!)) that turned badly. Loss of SA probably also.

I would also guess that the pilot tried to eject in the last second before impact. At least it seems he released his hands from the stick (pitch command goes to null). He was probably unaware of his real altitude above ground.
 
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TomcatViP said:
I would also guess that the pilot tried to eject in the last second before impact. At least it seems he released his hands from the stick (pitch command goes to null). He was probably unaware of his real altitude above ground.
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If that's the case then he waited too long to eject and it cost him his life.
 

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But wouldn´t the 345 be a bit underpowered in the verticals for airshows?

We have a Power to Weight at TO around 0,3 to 0,4 when the 346 can double that. ;)
 
I thought the livery on the MB-339 looks much, much better ...... The M-346 underside has too much dark blue .....
 
Oh, sweet ! I wish the Patrouille de France could ditch its Alpha Jets someday...
 
I love it and glad they also chose the M-346.. quite a looker for a trainer jet
 
gral_rj said:
Leonardo has reportedly offered the M-346 to the Brazilian Air Force. Whether this offer will go anywhere is anyone's guess.
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A Brazilian news magazine has reported negotiations for the acquisition of 30 M-346(24 for the Air Force, 6 for the Navy) are on the works, to be continued during the G-20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro this November. Supposedly this is to 'complement' the Gripen acquisition, meaning it's an AMX replacement. Some of the electronics fit and the weapons will be from Brazilian companies.
 

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