Poland receives last batch of M-346 trainer jets

Leonardo delivered the third and last batch of four M-346 advanced jet trainers to the Polish Air Force in the middle of December.

This final delivery brings the Polish fleet to 16 aircraft, making it the second largest export customer for the M-346 behind only Israel’s 30 aircraft.

Commenting on the delivery, SVP of commercial and customer services at Leonardo’s Aircraft Division Dario Marfè said on 16 December: ‘We are very proud to have equipped the Polish Air Force with an advanced training system based on our M-346.

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‘We are committed to providing our customers with the best and most advanced products, based on Leonardo-developed solutions to support them in accomplishing their missions.’

The Polish Air Force chose the M-346 as the successor to the TS-11 Iskra training aircraft in 2018.

Last May, its flight training school in Deblin received a certificate from the USAF to confirm that its Leonardo M-346 Beilik aircraft is equivalent to the training on the US T-38 Talon to the level of Introduction for Fighter Fundamentals (IFF).

The school met all the requirements to train F-35 and F-16 pilots too.

Besides Israel and Poland, Greece, Italy, Singapore and Qatar also operate the M-346.

The aircraft is also the backbone of the International Flight Training School (IFTS), a collaboration between Leonardo and the Italian Air Force, which has already been contracted by Japan, Germany, Qatar and Singapore.