On December 23, 2020, the [...] first two serial new jet training aircraft M-345 NO (military designation T-345A) built by the Italian company Leonardo arrived at the Lecce-Galatina air base as part of the 61st regiment (61° Stormo) of the Italian air force. The aircraft have tail numbers 61-202 (Italian military number MM55234) and 61-203 (Italian military number MM55235).
The first two received by the Italian air force serial jet training aircraft Leonardo M-345 NO (T-345A) with tail numbers 61-202 (Italian military number MM55234) and 61-203 (Italian military number MM55235), 23.12.2020 (C) Italian air force
Thus, the new jet training aircraft Leonardo M-345 NO (T-345A) began to enter service with the Italian air force, which acted as the starting customer of this machine, positioned as a relatively inexpensive machine for the initial and main stages of pilot training (the so-called stages II and III according to the Italian system; for the IV stage of advanced training and as a transition, the Leonardo m-346 Master aircraft is intended). In total, the Italian air force plans to purchase 45 M-345 NO aircraft in order to replace most of the fleet of Aermacchi MB-339 jet training aircraft. In particular, it is planned to purchase up to 11 m-345 HET aircraft to re-equip the Frecce Tricolori demonstration and aerobatic team of the Italian air force, which now uses MV-339PAN aircraft.
Leonardo in January 2017 signed a contract with the Italian air force for the supply of the first five production aircraft M-345 NO (designation in the Italian air force T-345A), with delivery in 2019, in Fact, the first two aircraft with Italian serial / military numbers CSX / MM55234 and CSX/MM55235 under this contract were lifted into the air at the Leonardo enterprise airfield in Venegono superior near Varese (former Aermacchi plant) in June and July 2020 and transferred to the Italian air force only now.
In June 2019, the Italian air force awarded Leonardo a contract for another 13 M-345 NO aircraft, bringing the total number of ordered units to 18.
The M-345 HET (Nidh-Efficiency Tgaipeg) is a modernized and" rebranded " in 2012 jet training aircraft M-311, marketing of which the company Alenia Aermacchi (part of the Finmeccanica group, now the Velivoli division of Leonardo) unsuccessfully carried out since 2005, and did not receive orders. In turn, the M-311 was a modified derivative of the SIAI-Marchetti S. 211 training aircraft, built from 1981 to 1994 in the amount of 70 units and supplied to the air forces of Singapore, the Philippines and Haiti. Aermacchi acquired the rights to S. 211 together with the assets of the former SIAI-Marchetti company in 1997, - in turn, in 2002, Aermacchi was acquired by the Finmeccanica group, and in 2012, after the merger of aircraft manufacturing assets, the latter became Alenia Aermacchi, and in 2016-2017 it was "dissolved" in the aircraft manufacturing division of the unified rebranded Leonardo company that transformed from Finmeccanica.
The first prototype demonstrator aircraft the new version, called M-345 HET (representing a modified the first of two prototypes built M-311) was presented at the Paris air show in Le Bourget in June 2013, and then Alenia Aermacchi has signed an agreement with the national Directorate of armaments of Ministry of defense of Italy on the development of this machine in the interests of the Italian air force and for promotion to the world market.
In September 2013, the then Italian defense Minister announced a plan to purchase M-345 HET aircraft to re-equip the Frecce Tricolori demonstration and aerobatic team of the Italian air force. However, later the Italian Ministry of defense temporarily abandoned this intention for financial reasons, which led to the fact that the M-345 HET program was in an uncertain state and seriously stalled. Only 29 Dec 2016 took place the first flight of a full prototype of the M-345 is NO, which is all the same converted the first prototype of the M-311 (room S. H. R. 619), but got "staff" for the M-345 engine Williams International FJ44-4M-34 (instead of used in S. 211 and M-311 engine Pratt & Whitney JT15D) and new avionics (maximally unified with aircraft M-346). And only on December 21, 2018, a complete prototype of the M-345 made its first flight, there IS no completely new construction in the serial configuration (number S. R. H. 624).
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The first two received by the Italian air force serial jet training aircraft Leonardo M-345 NO (T-345A) with tail numbers 61-202 (Italian military number MM55234) and 61-203 (Italian military number MM55235), 23.12.2020 (C) Italian air force
