In a ceremony at Istrana Air Base in northeastern Italy on 12 September 2024, which marked the return of the Italian Air Force’s Frecce Tricolori aerobatic display team from a recent North American tour, the team’s future aircraft was unveiled in the form of the Leonardo M-346 advanced jet trainer.
M-346s will replace the Frecce Tricolori’s MB-339s, which have been flown by the team since 1982.
Also presented was the Frecce Tricolori’s new livery, which was designed by Pininfarina and adored the M-346 on display. According to the Italian Air Force, the new livery “develops the theme of the ‘renaissance of the tricolour’ by enhancing the beauty and fluidity of the flight of the Frecce Tricolori through a design that will convey the sensation of speed and dynamism”.
Adoption of the twin-engined M-346 for the Frecce Tricolori, which will take place within the next few years, supplants a previous plan to use the single-engined Leonardo M-345. Although the Frecce Tricolori’s future M-346s will be more expensive to fly and maintain than M-345s, the enhanced performance they offer was felt to be more suited to the rigours of the display team’s large formation aerobatics.
Whereas the M-345 has a maximum thrust of 1,540 kg at sea-level standard and international standard atmosphere (SLS/ISA) and a maximum speed of 670/764 km/h (sea level/30,000 ft), the M-346’s two Honeywell F124-GA-200 powerplants each offer 2,850 kg thrust (SLS, ISA) and the aircraft has a maximum speed at low altitude of 1,090 km/h.
A total of 126 M-346s have been sold worldwide.
