Leonardo’s New Jet Trainer Certified

Leonardo has announced that the DAAA (Directorate for Air Armaments and Airworthiness), the Italian Ministry of Defence’s Certification Authority, has issued the "Initial Certification" for its new M-345 training aircraft. This important achievement for the M-345 programme is the result of intense activities with two hundred dedicated flights logged alongside the critical support of the Italian Air Force’s Flight Test Centre, 61st Wing and 10th Aircraft Maintenance Unit.

The Initial Certification of the M-345 marks the first case ofenforcement of the new AER (EP) P-21 rule for a fixed-wing aircraft. This ruleadopts the European EMAR-21 (European Military Airworthiness Requirements), astringent international certification requirement that will also be beneficialto the export of the aircraft. The M-345 provides the Air Force with asignificant improvement in training effectiveness greater efficiency and astrong operating cost reduction. The new aircraft, designed to meet basic andbasic/advanced training needs, will complement the M-346s used for the advancedphase of pilot training and, in the framework of the “International FlightTraining School” project, will support the reinforcement andinternationalisation of the training offer launched by Leonardo in partnershipwith the Italian Air Force.