The new FT version of the aircraft incorporates the changes requested by the RSV during the various development activities carried out. Among these, the last Preview conducted in Venegono in April 2014 and the subsequent Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) held at the Galatina airport in June 2014.
Recently, the FT configuration was the subject of a Type Certification process carried out by the Directorate of Aeronautical Armaments and Airworthiness (DAAA) which ended in December 2014. During this activity, the DAAA made use of the multidisciplinary skills of the RSV, as well as the experience gained by its staff in the field of Type Certification and the T-346A program in general.
The first T-346A in FT configuration, after acceptance, will officially enter the Armed Forces at the 61 ° Stormo of Galatina, where it will be used for the training of the instructors who will begin the validation phase of the syllabus developed for future fighter pilots of the Air Force.
The acceptance of the first T-346A aircraft in the FT version represents only the latest, in chronological order, of the activities that saw the involvement of the RSV. The T-346A program started in the 2007, when the aircraft was subjected to a full evaluation activity by the RSV in order to determine the adequacy of the system's capacity to fulfill the task of advanced trainer. At the conclusion of this activity, the first indications were given to the Aermacchi company to direct, from the earliest stages, the development of the project according to the needs of the Air Force.
In the following years, the RSV continued to provide input during the numerous monitoring activities, previews, certification steps and operational assessments that led to the development of the aircraft until the current FT configuration was reached.
As part of the T-346A program, the RSV also provided support to the DAAA in the certification processes of the integrated M-346 training system in the versions developed for the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and for the Israeli Air Force ( IAF).
The Experimental Flight Department has among its institutional tasks that of supporting not only the Operational Departments of the Air Force, but also the other Armed Forces and Armed Corps of the State and the national industry, through experimentation, integration and validation of the new weapon systems and those subject to modification. In particular, the Experimental Flight Department experiments with weapon systems and materials of aeronautical interest, defines modifications for aircraft, on-board systems and material connected with the flight and produces the technical evidence necessary for the homologation / certification of systems weapon.
Source: Experimental Flight Department - Pratica di Mare (RM) - serg. Anna Mangiacapre
