Italian trainer house talks to European industry about offering new engine for M346
Aermacchi will ask a group of European manufacturers to offer an alternative engine for the M346 advanced jet trainer if the US-developed Honeywell F124-200 becomes a stumbling block in the company's bid to provide the aircraft for the 12-nation Eurotraining initiative.
The M346 - due to fly on Monday in a ceremony attended by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi - is the only one of four types being assessed during the Eurotraining feasibility study phase actually flying; the others are a single-engine design from Dassault and transonic and supersonic versions of EADS's Mako trainer.
The F124-200 was developed by Honeywell with Taiwan's Aero Industrial Development Corporation. Italy's Avio, part owned by Aermacchi owner Finmeccanica, has a 30% share in the programme.
Speaking at Defendory in Athens last week, Aermacchi chief executive Giovanni Bertolone said there has been "increasing interest [in the M346] from other manufacturers, including Snecma and Rolls-Royce. We will have to discuss this with them."
Greece is crucial to the trainer house's marketing push. Part of Eurotraining, it has a requirement for about 60 trainer aircraft. Other countries taking part in the initiative are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
* Embraer says its success in the US Aerial Common Sensor contest with its ERJ-145 will help propel defence from 13% to 20% of the company's revenues by the end of the decade. The 57-aircraft contract (38 for the US Army and 19 for the US Navy) won by the Lockheed Martin-led team "gives us a high exposure on the world market", Romualdo Monteiro de Barros, executive vice-president defence market, said at Defendory. The Brazilian company is also predicting 200 orders "from at least six countries" for its Super Tucano trainer and light attack aircraft over the period.
MURDO MORRISON / ATHENS
Source: Flight International
