In recent days at the Leonardo-Finmeccanica plant of Venegono Superiore (Varese), the managing director and general manager of Leonardo Finmeccanica, Mauro Moretti, met the gen. Shmuel Tzuker, of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, on the occasion of the delivery of the last of the 30 Aermacchi M-346 ordered by Israel in the 2012. Also present were the Israeli ambassador in Italy, Naor Gilon, and the head of the Aircraft Division by Leonardo-Finmeccanica, Filippo Bagnato.
The delivery of the first aircraft to Israel was carried out in the 2014 and in less than two years all the 30 aircraft were delivered to the customer. The Aermacchi M-346 are demonstrating high operational efficiency and have already completed more than 10.000 flights for a total of 7.500 hours.
Mauro Moretti said: “It was an important moment as the Brig. gen. Tzuker who expressed maximum satisfaction with the choice of our aircraft. The Aermacchi M-346 has established itself in all major international competitions and already trains the pilots of the Italian, Israeli and Singapore Air Forces, considered among the most demanding in the world. Our trainer is about to make his debut in Poland and is a candidate for the US Air Force tender for 350 aircraft ”.
Brig. January Shmuel Tzuker said: "I wish to thank Leonardo-Finmeccanica and its employees for the excellent industrial result and for the support provided to the Israeli Air Force. The Israeli pilots are great supporters of the capabilities of the M-346 because the aircraft exceeded our best expectations ".
