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Leonardo sees market opportunity for M-346 attack variant in Middle East
By: Agnes Helou
Correction: Leonardo has corrected statements made about M-346 customers during a tour of one of its facilities by Defense News, and this story has been updated to reflect that.
BEIRUT — After the first order of its fighter attack variant of the M-346, Italian firm Leonardo is marketing the fighter jet in the Middle East, industry officials told Defense News, while noting that the training version was tested in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.
“M-346 has been tested in Kuwait under hot conditions, passing all the tests successfully, and then it was also tested with the Italian Air Force in November 2018 in Qatar,” a Leonardo official said.
Defense News spoke to the official during a tour of the company's facilities in Venegono Superiore, Italy. Leonardo would not identify the M-346FA customer or the contract value, despite inquiries by Defense News during and after the tour.
The deal comes in the wake of increased interest for trainer jets — both those solely used for training and those able to perform close-air support missions — from Mideast countries seeking to expand their respective fighter fleets.
“There is an increasing need for trainer jets in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region as countries there work to expand their fighter fleets. The MENA nations have requirements for trainers also able to perform close‐air support missions," said Marco Buratti, Leonardo's senior vice president of international marketing and strategic campaigns.
“Among the most notable examples that have chosen Leonardo's training approach is the UAE's national aerobatic team, Al Fursan — widely recognized as one of the best in the world and considered as a UAE national pride — which uses the Aermacchi MB‐339 aircraft,” he added. “The Emirati pilots were trained in Italy and the UAE under the supervision of the Frecce Tricolori pilots using Italian aircraft and training systems.”
Leonardo offers its trainer customers the opportunity to send personnel to its International Flight Training School, where it trains pilots in four phases: primary training/screening; basic-advanced training; lead-in to fighter training; and an operational conversion unit.
Leonardo is a member of the Eurofighter consortium, which builds the Typhoon fighter jet. Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are among those in the Gulf region who have ordered the aircraft.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Italy has joined the United Kingdom's Tempest program for a next-generation fighter. Will the M-346 be the chosen trainer for that effort?
“M-346 demonstrated its capability as [a] trainer for Eurofighter and F-35. It is early to speak about Tempest program because we don't know yet how it will be inserted in the combat environment," a Leonardo official told Defense News. "First, we need to understand [the] Tempest combat environment, and then we evaluate the M-346 as a trainer for the Tempest, or if in 10-15 years from now Leonardo will have to evolve the training system towards a new combat environment that require[s] new training skills.”
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France, Germany kick off race for ‘quantum leaps’ in aircraft and tank tech
Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany ― The defense ministers of Germany and France have inked new agreements for the joint development of a new combat aircraft and a next-generation tank, key programs that could shape the European defense landscape for decades to come. Ursula von der Leyen and Florence Parly signed the letters of intent on the sidelines of a bilateral Cabinet meeting in Berlin on Tuesday. The documents are meant to provide the necessary guidance to set up a program of record for the Future Combat Air System and the Main Ground Combat System. A defense spokesman in Berlin told Defense News the agreement calls for the examination of potential management structures, for example through OCCAR, a European collective for joint weapons acquisition and management. The core members of OCCAR include France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Belgium, though other nations can partake in individual projects. By: Sebastian Sprenger According to a German Defence Ministry statement, the signed documents establish the two governments' “left and right boundaries” for the programs. “Industry is now requested to fill the space,” the statement reads. “Both projects ... stand for technological quantum leaps that shall be approached together while integrating the strengths of each nation's industries.” Led by France, the Future Combat Air System aims to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon in Germany and the Rafale aircraft in France. The Main Ground Combat System, helmed by Berlin, will succeed the German Leopard 2 tanks ― used widely in Europe and beyond ― and the French Leclerc. The new aircraft are envisioned to hit the skies by 2040, while the the new tanks are pegged to roll in the mid-2030s. Connected to the tank effort is also an artillery replacement plan, named Common Indirect Fire System. While both projects initially are exclusively German and French, partner countries will have an opportunity to join once a “strong foundation” is established by the two lead nations, the German Defence Ministry said. KNDS, a joint venture by German tank-maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and France's Nexter, unveiled a European Main Battle Tank as an interim step toward the future tank program at the Eurosatory defense trade show in Paris last week. The next-generation combat aircraft project, which officials said will include a sizable unmanned component, is slated to enter a concept-study phase by the end of the year, according to the German ministry. Both efforts are still some time away from formulating concrete military requirements, to which companies eventually can tailor their offers. That cooperation process is expected to be thornier than the agreement on political pronouncements so far that paint Germany and France as the motor of Europe's new defense ambitions. Absent from Tuesday's joint statement was any mention of cooperative work on a new air-to-ground missile and modernization of the Tiger attack helicopter to a Mark 3 version. The two ministers had announced at the ILA Berlin air show in April that the two countries would cooperate on the airborne weapon and the midlife upgrade of the combat helicopter. A common weapon for both French and German Tiger helicopters would cut down integration costs for the missiles. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/06/19/france-germany-kick-off-race-for-quantum-leaps-in-aircraft-and-tank-tech/