TSAMTO, December 29. The Egyptian Defense Ministry is negotiating with the Italian Leonardo group on the acquisition of 24 M-346 "Master" jet training / light combat aircraft, the total cost of which is estimated at 500 million euros.
This is reported by Airrecognition.com with reference to a message published on December 15 on the Twitter page of Egyptian defense columnist Mahmoud Gamal. Other details of the possible deal have not yet been announced.
As TSAMTO has already reported, Egypt's recent acquisition of 54 Rafale fighters after the previous purchase of 46 MiG-29M2 and 24 Su-35 in Russia required the modernization of the fleet of existing training aircraft, which currently consists of the G-115, EMB-312 Tucano, K-8E Karakorum and Alfa Jet.
In 2020, it became known about a proposal sent to Egypt by the Italian authorities providing for the supply of a large package of weapons, including four FREMM-class frigates, 20 corvettes based on the Falaj-class ships project, 24 Typhoon multipurpose fighters, a reconnaissance satellite and 24 M-346 jet TCBMs.
The South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries (T-50 Golden Eagle), Rosoboronexport (Yak-130UBS), Czech Areo Vodochody (L-39NG) also presented their proposals to the Egyptian Defense Ministry. Along with the M-346, the Leonardo Group can also offer the Egyptian Air Force the delivery of the M-345 TCB as a basic/advanced flight training aircraft.
It is also known that at the beginning of 2021, as part of the planned renewal of the fleet of training aircraft, the Egyptian Air Force negotiated with the German company Grob Aircraft about the possibility of buying G-120TP turboprop TCB.
The American Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) offered the Egyptian Air Force the A-29 "Super Tucano" aircraft both as a training and as a replacement for about 50 UBS EMB-312 "Tucano" acquired by Egypt in the 1980s. The new A-29 "Super Tucano" was also proposed to replace more than 100 K-8E "Karakorum" advanced flight training aircraft, which are stationed at the El Minya Airbase.
