Aermacchi M-345

what is it?

The Aermacchi M-345 is a turbofan-powered military trainer aircraft designed and produced by the Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo S.p.A. It is an improvement of the Aermacchi M-311 which in itself was a development of the SIAI-Marchetti S.211. On 29 December 2016, the M-345 performed its maiden flight; one month later, the first order for the type was placed by the Italian Air Force. The first production-standard M-345 was flown from Venegono Superiore in December 2018; and entered service in December 2020 replacing MB-339.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 8.5 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 740 km/htop speed
• range 1,410 kmwithout refuelling
• size 4,500 kgmax take-off weight
• built 60made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 21 years ago, in 2005.
• 🏎️Top speed is 5.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🌍Range of 1,410 km: 8× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

2005-06-01

status

still flying

number built

60

role

basic/advanced trainer and light attack aircraft

origin

🇮🇹 Italy

makers

Leonardo

engines

1× Williams FJ44-4M-34

crew

2

length

9.9 m

wingspan

8.5 m

height

3.7 m

max take-off weight

4,500 kg

top speed

740 km/h

range

1,410 km

ceiling

12,190 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family