The Navy's Newest Training Aircraft Contender is Making Moves

Story by Marcus Pinnock

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Edited by Matthew Dawson

Photographs by Marcus Pinnock unless specified otherwise

This month, Leonardo and Beechcraft teamed up to parade and showcase their brand new aircraft to the public, the M-346.  This aircraft is a joint venture between the two aviation companies, the original design belonging to Leonardo with the intention of Beechcraft to manufacture for American use.  But who would want to buy this jet in the United States anyways?

The main target is the U.S. Navy.  With the T-45 beginning to show its old age, now is the time to be searching for a replacement, and the M-346 is leading the charge for that spot.  The Navy revealed an open bid for the T-45 replacement with new mission sets and flight regimes and the M-346 continues to prove its place day by day as the leading contender for the spot through the country. This aircraft has predictable flying characteristics, but in high AOA (angle of attack) you need to fly the aircraft if that limit is surpassed under autopilot conditions.

  A new requirement, or lack there of, pilots will no longer have to land on an aircraft carrier to be qualified, the requirement now is to fly the aircraft down to the last hundred feet or so, and execute a go-around.  This new ruleset means that the aircraft must still be capable of slow flight but the airframe and landing gear no longer must be designed to take on such violent impacts, this should mean lighter airframes, increased performance, and better maintenance.

The M-346 features a twin engine design, single vertical tail, swept delta wing, and leading edge extensions.  All of that combined to create a lightweight, agile and fast aircraft capable of mach 1.15, +8G and -3G. 

Beyond flight performance, this new contender features avionics comparable to that of the F-35 and Block III Super Hornet which will greatly close the gap between training aircraft and aircraft in the fleet.  Only time will tell if the M-346 will win the competition set by the Navy.  But it does have one major advantage amongst its competitors, experience. 

The M-346 is currently seeing service with Italy, Israel, Poland, Greece, and many more countries have made orders for the aircraft. With the advantage of having real world experience and service, this makes the M-346 stand out dramatically in comparison to the competition.  But nothing is certain until the U.S. Navy chooses a winner