In aggiunta a quanto detto da SuperMau ..... ritengo opportuno si debba tenere a mente che c'era in ballo anche un accordo bilaterale .....
On Jul. 20 (the following day), it was announced that Israel’s IAI will supply the Italian Air Force with two Gulfstream G550 Eitam conformal airborne early warning (CAEW) aircraft (as well as ground support equipment and logistical support services) under a deal worth 750 million USD that is part of “a larger larger Government-to-Government agreement between Israel and Italy that includes aircraft, engines, maintenance, logistics, simulators and training, provided also by other Israeli and international companies.”
Indeed, under an additional agreement worth 182 million USD, IAI will also develop, manufacture and supply an observation satellite to Italy’s Telespazio.
Intanto, secondo quanto riportato da Amy Butler sul prossimo numero di AW&ST, Alenia Aermacchi starebbe producendo un esemplare tutto suo per rimpiazzare i due prototipi perduti in incidenti .....
Alenia Aermacchi is building its own production-representative M-346 trainer to continue development and testing for the young program after mishaps claimed two of three of its original prototype aircraft.
The new development aircraft will be a company-owned asset and is expected to complete the production cycle by year-end, an Alenia official says. Unlike the prototypes, it will be fully production-representative.
It will join the test trials with the gray M-346 prototype, replacing the production aircraft the company tapped for the test campaign after it was delivered to the Italian air force.
Lt. Gen. Gabriele Salvestroni, the Italian Head of Materiel Directorate, arrived for an official visit to Israel this week, two months before the arrival of the Italian M-346 jet trainer to the IAF.
He visited Tel-Nof Airbase and was greatly impressed with its capabilities.
"The IAF is one of the most advanced Forces in the world"
Israele elenca i benefici che deriveranno dall'introduzione in servizio del '346' .....
The introduction of the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 "Lavi" advanced jet trainer aircraft into the Israeli air force's inventory will enable the service to reduce the time of its pilot training course by six months.
The Israeli air force’s first Alenia Aermacchi M-346 advanced jet trainer will land at the service’s Hatzerim air base later this week.
A further 29 of the type will follow before the end of 2016.
Alenia Aermacchi on 9 July delivered the first two of 30 M-346 training jets to the Israeli Air Force.
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It is also a milestone for the IAI/Elbit Systems joint venture Tor, which will modify the fleet with Israeli air force equipment and maintain the aircraft.
Tor has received a $640 million contract, but the lifecycle value of the deal could be worth up to $2 billion.
Israele apre il nuovo Centro di Addestramento Volo per il 'Lavi' .....
The Israel Air Force (IAF) inaugurated this week the new Flight Training Center for the "Lavi" – M346 Trainer at Hatzerim airbase.
Additionally, the cadets, young pilots and WSOs will proceed to airborne training, using Elbit’s Embedded Virtual Avionics (EVATM) onboard training system.
Può darsi si tratti si quel quarto prototipo che, secondo quanto riportato da 'AW&ST' nell'Aprile scorso (vedasi mio post in data 05-04-2014), sarebbe stato in costruzione presso gli stabilimenti di Alenia Aermacchi ..... .
Starting in January, Israel Air Force (IAF) cadets will take to the skies in new Lavi advanced trainers, the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 jets slated to replace A-4 Skyhawks by 2016 in Flying Tiger Squadron 102.
Five of 30 aircraft on order arrived here in recent months, along with the first of four ground-based training systems to be co-located at the service’s Hatzerim base in the Negev desert.
Già nove aerei consegnati ..... l'operatività si avvicina .....
E si parla di una manovrabilità superiore a quella degli F-16A attualmente utilizzati per l'addestramento .....
Maj E is enthusiastic about the new trainer's overall performance.
"It has better manoeuvrability than the F-16A used now for training in the squadrons, and manoeuvres very smoothly – a fact that required the installation of a manoeuvring limit system that is pre-programmed and limits the g on the pilot."
He also praises another safety feature of the M-346: a vertigo escape button.
"When the pilot feels the first sign of vertigo he pushes that button and the aircraft is kept in straight and level flight until the pilot has recovered," Maj E says.
Se non avessero cannato la progettazione dell'impianto idraulico (come diceva qualcuno in un altro thread sull'impossibilita di avere una versione armata), poteva essere anche un ottimo sostituito dell' AMX come assaltatore leggero...
sidew ha scritto:Se non avessero cannato la progettazione dell'impianto idraulico (come diceva qualcuno in un altro thread sull'impossibilita di avere una versione armata), poteva essere anche un ottimo sostituito dell' AMX come assaltatore leggero...
Secondo te l'hanno cannato? Secondo me hanno risparmiato sul progetto e lo hanno fatto con consapevolezza, magari anche alla luce delle norme sull'esportazione di armi.
Il fatto che ce lo abbia comprato Israele la dice lunga...è proprio un capolavoro!
"Failure is not an option." (cit. Eugene F. Kranz)
I primi cadetti hanno cominciato l'addestramento sul '346' .....
Excitement was in the air in Hatzerim Airbase this week, when pilot cadets flew on the new instructional plane, the M-346, or the "Lavi" for the first time.
The new plane, which replaced the old IAF Skyhawk, will enable the IAF to operate one of the most advanced training programs in the world.
The Israel Air Force (IAF) has awarded officers' ranks to the first group of cadets to complete their initial flight training on the new Alenia Aermacchi M-346 jet trainers.
The ceremony held at Hatzerim Air Base on 23 June marked six months of the cadets flying the M-346, which is called Lavi (Hebrew for Lion) by the IAF.
The IAF received its first two M-346s in July 2014 and declared the type operational in January.
Senior flight squadron trainers at Hatzerim said the Lavi has now completely replaced the previous training platforms: the F-16A and Skyhawk.
The deputy commander of the Hatzerim training squadron, Major Erez, whose full name cannot be disclosed, said the M-346 enables training that was "not possible" with the old aircraft.
Commenti lusinghieri ..... in un articolo risalente a quattro mesi fa ..... ma pur sempre interessante .....
According to the testing team .....
"The Italian trainer constitutes a combination between the F-16, F-15 and Eurofighter.
It has two engines, as opposed to the Korean trainer that only has one engine, with the former offering an important safety advantage.
We addressed all of the considerations: suitability, capabilities, safety, instruction and maturity, and reached the conclusion that the Italian trainer is superior.
Looking ahead to the future aircraft of the IAF, the Lavi offers a better preparatory solution for the F-35 fighter as well, and generally prepares us better for the future."
MatteF88 ha scritto:Lo posto qua visto che mi ricordo, forse male, che facesse parte di una contropartita coi 346, o comunque di un affare in parallelo:
The first G550 with the Elta AEW suite is expected to be delivered in 2020, and according to the contract, IAI will also supply an observation satellite to Telespazio.
Israel's air force on 7 June accepted delivery of its last Aermacchi M-346 "Lavi" trainer from Leonardo-Finmeccanica, with all 30 of its examples having been accepted since March 2014.
The final example – carrying the tail number 164 – was handed over during an event at the airframer's Venegono production site .....
In Israele, all' atto della definitiva entrata in servizio dei trenta 346 ordinati, si commenta, in termini molto lusinghieri, la vittoria sul concorrente T-50 .....
The commissioning of the full 30 jets – known in Italy as the Master – went with some bad mouthing on the biggest competitor: the Korean Aerospace Industries T-50 Golden Eagle.
“At the end of the day, the Italian plane was better than the Korean one. We choose wisely for the Lavi,” Israel’s head of procurement of the Ministry of Defence – Shmuel Tzuker, said to The Times of Israel.
An interesting remark, since a derivative of the T-50 is also in the running to replace the US Air Force’s Northrop T-38 Talon advanced jet fighters.
This Lockheed Martin/KIA T-50A is also facing the heat of the M-346, enroled in the USA’s T-X program as the Raytheon/Leonardo Finmeccanica T-100. According to Israel the M-346 is better in quality of training, safety, maintenance, specs and costs of operation.
The Israeli air force has enhanced the capabilities of its Leonardo Aermacchi M-346 "Lavi" advanced jet trainers by adding external fuel tanks.
The enhancement was made possible after the aircraft's software was upgraded following a long series of test flights performed by the service's flight test squadron.
I piloti dei "Lavi" hanno preso parte alla manifestazione aerea che si è tenuta in occasione del Giorno dell' Indipendenza di Israele ...
Various IAF squadrons participated in the Independence Day flyover, among them the 102nd Squadron and its "Lavi" pilots.
"In my opinion, the thing that's interesting about the chosen pilots is how they show the wide variety of people in Israel", said Lt. Col. A', the squadron's commander.
"Aircrew members from both south and north, old and young, women and men".
