The deal includes six firm orders and options for six more jets, with expected service entry in 2029.
The privately operated International Test Pilot School (ITPS) in Canada has signed a deal with Italian airframer Leonardo covering the acquisition of up to 12 of the company’s latest trainer jets.
Revealed on 26 May by Leonardo, the agreement includes six firm orders by ITPS of the M-346, with options for an additional six. Leonardo will deliver the twin-engined trainers in the latest Block 20 configuration, which includes all-glass cockpits, new helmet-mounted display systems and onboard weapon systems simulators for combat training, it says.
Stefano Bortoli, managing director of Leonardo’s aeronautics division, says the Block 20’s integrated training system will allow operators to test pilots with “rapidly changing and increasingly challenging operational scenarios”.
“We’re committed to working with ITPS to make sure they can maximise the benefits of this latest technology and capability in order to maintain and even expand the quality level of the service their customers deserve,” Bortoli adds.
M-346s delivered to ITPS will support expansion of the company’s International Tactical Training Centre (ITTC) in North Bay, Ontario, which provides tactical fighter training for NATO members and other allied countries.
ITPS executive chairman Giorgio Clementi says the new M-346s will begin operations in 2029, “providing a major contribution to the first capability enhancement project of the ITTC fleet”.
That fleet is primarily composed of modernised Aero Vodochody L-39s, alongside several Hawker Hunter T.7s and Aero Vodochody L-29s. Clementi says ITPS has active tactical training programmes underway with more than 10 air forces globally.
In addition to contracts with the Royal Canadian Air Force, the ITTC has offered training services to the Royal Netherlands Air Force, Belgian Air Component and Australian Defence Force. Several large aircraft manufacturers have also procured training services, including Airbus, Leonardo, Korea Aerospace Industries and Turkish Aerospace Industries.
With the retirement of the RCAF’s BAE Systems Hawk trainers in 2024, and the associated closure of the NATO Fighter Lead-In Training programme, ITPS now operates the only advanced fighter training school in Canada.
Ottawa is redeveloping that capability under the Future Fighter Lead-In Training programme, which aims to deliver a new trainer aircraft and curriculum associated with the RCAF’s procurement of the Lockheed Martin F-35A and potentially the Saab Gripen E/F.
The M-346 is a prime contender for that opportunity, which is being managed by Canadian aerospace firm CAE.
To the south, Leonardo is pursuing a separate opportunity for the M-346 in the United States.
The company has teamed with American manufacturer Textron to offer a US-built version of the M-346 Block 20 for the US Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System contract. That tender is seeking a new trainer jet to replace the service’s aged fleet of Boeing T-45 Goshawks.
The US-configured M-346 Block 20 has been dubbed the Beechcraft M-346N by Textron, which is acting as the prime contractor for the bid.
Textron says it will assemble M-346Ns at its main industrial campus in Wichita, Kansas.
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