Aircraft

Alenia Aermacchi expects to sign a contract before year-end to provide the Italian air force with 14 M-346 advanced jet trainers, while additional countries are showing interest in the type and the company's M-311 basic trainer, says chief executive Carmelo Cosentino.

To be signed with the Italian economic development ministry, the award will be split into two batches of seven aircraft each, and will include the delivery of an undisclosed amount of ground-based training and logistics support equipment, says Cosentino, who declines to detail an expected contract value. "We hope to have the Italian order on contract this year, but early 2008 won't be a tragedy," he adds.

Alenia Aermacchi will deploy M-346 and M-311 prototypes to the United Arab Emirates in mid-July for a formal evaluation by the nation's air force. The types face competition from the BAE Systems Hawk 128 and Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed Martin T-50 and Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano and Pilatus PC-21 respectively to meet the UAE's two-tier training requirement.

The Indonesian air force recently conducted a flight evaluation of the M-346, while Cosentino lists Jordan and Libya as potential buyers for the Finmeccanica company's smaller M-311. "We aim to be the market leader on trainer aircraft," he says.

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