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M-346FA Block 20
Background and History
Spoiler
Origins:
The M-346 was initially born as a joint project between Italy and Russia under the name of Yak/AEM-130D. Although the initial progress showed great results, discrepancies between the two nations’ requirements for the platform led to a rather quick split which came true with the creation of the Yak-130 and M-346 programs respectively.
The M-346 promised to be Italy’s newest and most advanced training platform. Developed by Alenia/Aermacchi, nowadays integrated into Leonardo’s group, the trainer’s first few steps were taken in the 2000s as the collaboration with Yakovlev and SOKOL proceeded. The Master’s first prototype rolled off the manufacturing lines in 2003 and first flew on the 15th of July, 2004. Its first customers were Italy, Singapore and Israel, later followed by Poland.
The Italian company decided to move towards turning this purely training platform into a capable fighter once the M-346FT [Fighter Trainer] variant was unveiled at Farnborough in 2016. This first upgrade offered all of the Master’s training capabilities, but considerably increased its lethality with the addition of air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry.
Eventually, the Master showed enough capabilities to earn a fully offensive skin, under the designation M-346FA [Fighter Attack] variant. Although this new development lacked initial buyers, it eventually became Leonardo’s most interesting option for several countries, primarily thanks to Turkmenistan and, particularly, Nigeria’s orders.
The Upgrade:
However, the first FA variant still showed its connections with the training procedures of the previous generation of main fighters, with multiple MFD screens and the GRIFO346 mechanical radar.
Therefore, Leonardo decided to double down on the Master’s future by upgrading this already extremely successful platform into the true trainer and air policing option for plenty of air forces around the world.
This new version of the Master is expected to become the training platfrom for the newest 4th generation fighters, 5th generation fighters such as the F-35 and finally future project such as the GCAP. Additionally, given its massively boosted air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities, the M-346FA Block 20 further justifies the need for relatively more affordable attack fighters to fulfill routine missions without sacrificing efficacy.
The Block 20’s upgrades: [Directly taken from Leonardo’s Block 20 page]
Upgrades coming to the FT variant, to be baseline on the FA variant
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Introduction of two Large Area Displays (LAD), which will replace the current multi-functional displays (MFD) and Low-Profile Head-up Displays (LPHUD), allowing for a better human-machine interface.
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Integration of a new digital video and data recorder (DVDR) for mission de-briefing.
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Integration of a new Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD), fully integrated with the avionics and with the on-board training system and supported by augmented reality systems.
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The redesign of the cabin control panels for the navigation, warning, weapons management, HMD control and get home display systems for backing up flight data.
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The development of the Flight Management System (FMS) to enable the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) and area navigation operations (aRea NAVigation-RNAV).
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Implementation of the IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) transponder which will incorporate the ADS-B Out functionality for aircraft identification.
Upgrades coming exclusively to the FA variant:
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An AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) technology radar , to increase targeting capability and enable a wider spectrum of Air-Air and Air-Surface missions.
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A Weapon System Interface Unit , capable of managing different armaments.
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Additional weapons systems for Air-Air and Air-Surface operations.
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Missile datalink capability.
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Define and personalise the training paths, implementing the Adaptive Training approach, that conforms to the student pilot’s individual conditions during the theoretical and practical phases, leveraging performance data analysis (biometric, cabin, flight and environmental data).
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Develop autonomous artificial agents (AI Agents) to be introduced into the synthetic scenario, to improve the quality and complexity of the tactical training provided.
Technical Data
Spoiler
As soon as Leonardo releases the official brochure of the Block 20, this image will be replaced with the newer one. However, given this is an upgrade of the FA variant, most information should still be relevant.
[Given the extremely low quality, the image has undergone AI enhancement to make its contents readable]
The claimed AESA radar might end up being the GRIFO E:
Weaponry
Spoiler
As soon as Leonardo releases the official brochure of the Block 20, this image will be replaced with the newer one. However, given this is an upgrade of the FA variant, most information should still be relevant.
Known new additions:
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30mm Cannon
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MICA NG RF
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MICA NG IR
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Elbit Systems SkyStriker
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SDB Laser
Photos
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