The need to offer the market a product to perfectly complement the M-346 in the primary and basic phases of military pilot training was the driving factor that led Leonardo to design the new M-345.
Heir to a long tradition in jet trainers with the Aermacchi MB.326 and the subsequent MB-339 – highly successful aircraft, of which more than 1,000 models have been produced and entered into service with air forces around the world – the new M-345 repeats the concept of a simple, efficient, high-performance basic-advanced jet trainer that is fast and highly manoeuvrable, with an ability to give trainee pilots a true “jet experience” unmatched by the many turboprop trainers placed on the market by competitors.
In this new video, Captain Quirino Bucci tells us about the M-345, the first models of which recently entered into service with the Italian Air Force's 61st Wing in Galatina (Lecce), taking us inside the cockpit and in flight, and describing clearly and competently the main characteristics of a successful jet trainer.