Monday, July 28, the U.S. company Textron Aviation Defense reported on a presentation together with the Italian Leonardo of their new carrier-based Beechcraft M-346N jet as a "ready-now" solution for the U.S. Navy. It is a modification of the Aermacchi M-346, an aircraft with Italian-russian roots.
This modification was specially created to participate in the upcoming Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) program with the intention of replacing the currently operated T-45 training aircraft.
Read more: Romania Receives 18 F-16s For Training Ukrainian Pilots But Also a Pain in Tow
The M-346N has two seats (for the cadet and the instructor), placed in a tandem configuration. The jet's maximum speed is 1060 km/h, the altitude ceiling is 13.7 km, and the cruising range is 1,300 km, powered by two Honeywell F124-GA-200 turbofan engines. Its upgraded glass cockpit is outfitted with the Auto-GCAS ground collision avoidance system.
Now, as for the origins of this aircraft, the design was developed in the 1990s in cooperation between Italy and the russian federation, later materialized in M-346 and Yak-130 models. However, it's important to note here that the initiative ceased to exist as a joint Italian-russian project in the 2000s due to disagreements between the parties — as a result, each nation ended up finishing the work separately.
This explains why, despite M-346 and Yak-130 having the same airframe, they have completely different avionics, parts, and subsystems. And that is also why the russian roots of Beechcraft M-346N are in name only and have nothing to do with this today. So, it should have no relevance whatsoever in the U.S. Navy's selection.
Still, even such a ghostly fact from 25 years ago was enough to seriously damage the reputation of Leonardo. In Britain, conservative politicians brought up this topic, resulting in a media resonance and a cancellation of plans to purchase this jet.
In an effort to protect its reputation, Leonardo once again stressed that "the M-346 was created according to NATO standards", and that "pilots from all over Europe, including the UK, have been trained on this aircraft." It is indeed true because M-346s are used at the international flight center in Italy.
Additionally, this aircraft is operated by Italy, Singapore, Poland, Israel, Qatar, Turkmenistan, Nigeria, Egypt. Worth adding, Brazil was going to buy them alongside Super Tucano to replace the aging A-4 and AMX planes.
Read more: Thatcher Government Planned to Cancel Merlin Helicopter in 1990 — but Project was Saved
