Leonardo M-346

what is it?

The Leonardo M-346 Master is a family of military twin-engined, transonic, advanced jet trainers and light combat aircraft. Originally co-developed with Yakovlev as the Yak/AEM-130, the partnership was dissolved in 2000 and then Alenia Aermacchi proceeded to separately develop the M-346 Master, while Yakovlev continued work on the Yakovlev Yak-130. The first flight of the M-346 was performed in 2004.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 9.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,090 km/htop speed
• range 1,925 kmwithout refuelling
• size 9,600 kgmax take-off weight
• built 165made 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 22 years ago, in 2004.
• 🏎️Top speed is 8.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.7 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,925 km: 11× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.6× 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

2004-07-15

introduced

2011

status

still flying

number built

165

role

jet trainer and light combat aircraft

origin

🇮🇹 Italy

makers

Leonardo, Alenia Aermacchi

engines

2× Honeywell/ITEC F124-GA-200

crew

2

length

11.5 m

wingspan

9.7 m

height

4.8 m

max take-off weight

9,600 kg

top speed

1,090 km/h

range

1,925 km

ceiling

13,716 m

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