The presentation ceremony of the first of the eight Aermacchi M-346 destined for the Polish Air Force was held today at the Venegono-Superiore production site (Varese). The event was attended by the Polish Deputy Minister of Defense, Bartosz Kownacki, the Undersecretary of State for Defense, the Hon. Gioacchino Alfano and the Head of the Aircraft Division of Leonardo-Finmeccanica, Filippo Bagnato.
According to Mauro Moretti, Managing Director and General Manager of Leonardo-Finmeccanica: “Leonardo-Finmeccanica is the only company in the world able to offer the market a complete technological solution capable of reducing pilots' training time, preparing them to fly on the most sophisticated new generation defense aircraft and generate a significant reduction in costs for the Air Force. Today, many countries are increasingly turning their attention to an integrated training system that includes particularly sophisticated aircraft and simulation systems, of which Italy is today the largest testimonial. In the Training Center of Galatina (Lecce) of the Italian Air Force 11 Air Forces of NATO Countries and of Friends Countries are well trained which patent their pilots on systems and aircraft made by Leonardo-Finmeccanica ”.
The first of the 8 Aermacchi M-346 advanced trainers ordered by Poland in the 2014 will now be subjected to a flight program for the certification of some peculiar systems chosen by the Polish Air Force, such as, for example, the brake parachute, and will then be delivered to the customer by the end of the year together with a second copy. Deliveries will be completed by November 2017. The M-346 will enter into service with the 4th Training Wing Squadron at the Deblin Polish base which, thanks to the use of the M-346, is a candidate to become an international hub for training military pilots.
The M-346 was ordered by the Air Forces of Italy (18), Singapore (12), Israel (30) and Poland (8) for a total of 68 total orders.
