Page 28 - ADT MARCH 2021 Online Magazine

port aircraft. Asian Defence Technology spoke

& Oceania, Marketing & Sales at Leonardo’s
Aircraft Division in an exclusive interview on
the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow 2022.

Superior Trainer
Leonardo is proposing the M-346 advanced
jet trainer to meet a Japanese requirement for
a new trainers. The Japan Air Self-Defense
Force (JASDF) is looking to replace its Fuji T-7
turboprop basic trainer and the Kawasaki T-4
intermediate jet trainer. Timossi said Leonardo
is taking the Japanese requirement for a jet
trainer very seriously due to the large size of
with Giovanni Timossi, VP Marketing – Asia [ INTERVIEW LEONARDO ]
the requirement. He said the JASDF is the third
international customer of the International
Flight Training School (IFTS) in Italy, which
operates a fleet of 18 T-346As (the designa-
tion of the M-346 in Italian Air Force service).

This kind of collaboration is important Timossi
said, adding that at the IFTS, the M-346 is
flown by other air forces that already operate
the F-35. “our potential customers will know in
advance, the capabilities of the M-346, which
they operate at IFTS and could eventually end
buying it for themselves.” The IFTS is a joint
initiative between Leonardo and the Italian Air
Force to launch the IFTS was announced on
July 17, 2018 at the Farnborough International
Airshow in the UK. Qatar will also train its pilots
with IFTS. The M346 is a solution which can
cover at least three phases of training and then
Genuine also be used as a light attack aircraft, without
needing any modifications, Timossi said.

The Hellenic Air Force will also train on the
M-346, which will be operated by Elbit, which
Contender is the prime contractor to setup a military flight
training school in Greece. Italy was the first
customer for the M-346 and Singapore was
the first export customer, followed by Israel
and Poland.

The IFTS project will eventually offer an
LEONARDO IS BULLISH ON MARKET PROSPECTS advanced flight training capacity to an esti-
FOR ITS M-346, M-345 MILITARY JET TRAINERS mated 8,000 flight hours annually. When IFTS
reaches its Full Operational Capability, the
AND ATR 72MP MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT school will be able to offer up to 80 courses
annually, 20 training positions for Italian air
Atul Chandra force student pilots and 60 available to pilots
of foreign allied countries, therefore doubling
Leonardo is a major contender in the market for military platforms in the current 35-40 pilots trained annually. The
the Middle East and APAC and has several successful programmes IFTS will primarily provide: advanced Phase IV
and ongoing export campaigns underway. Leonardo’s main manned courses of the AM training syllabus, the Lead-In
fixed wing programmes encompass the M-345, M-346 military to Fighter Training (LIFT) phase, this will ade-
jet trainers, ATR 72MP maritime patrol aircraft and C-27J trans- quately prepare the student pilot to handle the

28 | March 2022 WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ ADT