Aermacchi M-345 completes first flight
Leonardo Aermacchi's M-345 High Efficiency Trainer (HET) prototype aircraft successfully completed its first flight from Venegono Superiore airfield in Varese, Italy, on December 29.
The M-345 is being developed for military pilot training. The aircraft test campaign will be completed in 2017, with the next phase of testing set to check avionics systems, engines and flight envelope expansion, including altitude, speed and manoeuvrability.
Quirino Bucci, project test pilot trainers, Leonardo Aircraft Division, said of the flight: ‘The aircraft conducted itself perfectly, meeting the expectations of the design parameters while showing excellent performance.
‘The engine in particular demonstrated a great capacity to react to regime changes, which is a fundamental characteristic for a basic training aircraft.’
Related Programmes in Defence Insight
M-345 Italy Future Procurement
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Training
-
Royal Jordanian Air Force takes delivery of five new Bell 505 aircraft at Farnborough
The five helicopters complete an order of 10 Bell 505s placed in 2022.
-
US Navy contracts for EW training flight hours awarded
The electronic warfare (EW) jets contract is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, with work scheduled to begin in August 2024 and completed in August 2029.
-
Rheinmetall receives rocket order from German armed forces for Tiger helicopters
The Tiger attack helicopter was developed for the French and German armies, prior to also being procured by Spain and Australia, with a total of 185 ordered. Germany, however, has planned to retire its 55-strong fleet.
-
How US marines and sailors trained for humanitarian assistance in Indo-Pacific region
US Marine Corps and US Navy personnel enhanced their humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities during a training exercise in Papua New Guinea.