The contract signed by Leonardo with the Italian Directorate of Aeronautical Armaments and Airworthiness confirms Austria will get the new M-346F Block 20 variant.
Leonardo has announced it signed a contract with the Italian Directorate of Aeronautical Armaments and Airworthiness for the Austrian Air Force’s M-346 order. The company has now confirmed that Austria, which already said it would procure the light fighter variant, will also get the latest Block 20 configuration.
Previously, both Italian and Austrian documents only mentioned the procurement of the M-346FA light fighter variant, while now Leonardo’s statement confirms that the aircraft will be the upgraded M-346F Block 20. M-346F is the new designation of the M-346FA after the Block 20 upgrade.
The Austrian Contract
Leonardo says the contract includes 12 aircraft supplied in the light fighter configuration under the new M-346 F Block 20 standard. The contract also includes a complete suite of simulation systems, an initial stock of spare parts, ground equipment and logistics / maintenance support for six years following the delivery of the first aircraft.
Stefano Bortoli, Managing Director of Leonardo’s Aeronautics Division, said: “We’re extremely proud of the launch of Austria’s M-346 programme, and we are aware of the value that the synergy between national institutions and industry can generate in response to the emerging requirements of friend countries, as we have already seen in the past.”
In fact, this contract is the result of a Government-to-Government agreement with Italy signed in May 2025 and a Letter of Intent in December 2024. As also noted by Leonardo, this is not the first instance of the two countries cooperating in defense acquisitions, as Austria acquired 36 AW169M LUH helicopters in the same manner.
“We are pleased to continue doing our part, supplying aeronautical solutions enabled by significant technological enhancements,” added Bortoli. “At the same time, this programme confirms the international competitiveness of the M-346 system. It responds to the need for operational versatility dictated by today’s scenarios requiring responsiveness and adaptability, growing digitisation, efficient management of new defence assets, complementarity and interoperability, and suitable training for personnel.”
The Austrian Ministry of Defense recently said the unit price of the aircraft is €80 million, while the entire package, including armament, simulator, training, and maintenance, costs around €1.5 billion. Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner explained the M-346 will be used both as an operational aircraft and as a training aircraft.
Tanner and the Minister for Economy Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer said the purchase represents a step forward in both security policy and economics improving operational readiness while simultaneously generating industrial value in the country. In fact, parallel to the M-346 acquisition, an industrial agreement signed with Italy is expected to generate around €400 million in orders for Austria.
Austrian Procurement
In September 2024, Austrian Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner mentioned that Austria was considering a joint purchase of M-346 jet trainers with Italy. The initial reports mentioned that Austria was looking for an aircraft which could be employed not only for training, but also for air surveillance and defense, complementing the Eurofighters.
With the agreement signed in May 2025, Austria said it would acquire the Leonardo M-346FA, the light fighter variant of the M-346 Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT). The choice of the FA variant allows to have a combat-capable aircraft which still retains the full dual role capability of the AJT version.
According to the document released by the Italian Ministry of Defense, the package requested by Austria includes:
- 12 M-346FAs, plus 12 more on option in two batches of six aircraft;
- Full Mission Simulator (FMS), Unit Level Training Device (ULTD), Computer Based Training (CBT) and Simulation Based Training (SBT) for pilots;
- Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) capability;
- Eight Role Equipment kits for the FA configuration;
- 12 Helmet Mounted Devices (HMD);
- 12 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) Interrogators;
- Link 16 and IRIS-T Integration;
- Eight Nexter NC621 20mm gun pods and 16 LAU-32 7-round rocket launchers;
- Eight Elbit SPEAR AECM pods.
While the intention to integrate the IRIS-T (InfraRed Imaging System Tail-Thrust Vector Controlled) short-range air-to-air missile on the M-346 was already known, the possible integration of an Electronic Counter Measures pod was mentioned in the past without referencing a specific system. Elbit says the SPEAR AECM pod is a modular solution that can provide Self-Protection, Electronic Attack and Reconnaissance capabilities with the use of Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) and Solid State Phased Array (SSPA) transmitters.
M-346 Block 20
Leonardo announced at the 2024 Farnborough International Air Show the launch of a comprehensive capability enhancement package for the M-346. This major upgrade comes as the M-346 fleet surpassed 100,000 flight hours as well as ten years of service.
Both M-346 AJT (Advanced Jet Trainer) training and M-346 LFFA (Light Fighter Family of Aircraft) fighter variants will benefit from these enhancements for a wide spectrum of applications, while implying significant margin for further developments in the future. Leonardo said that ‘M-346 T Block 20’ and ‘M-346 F Block 20’ are the designations for the new standard of both aircraft.
The Block 20 standard cockpit will be completely renewed, featuring two Large Area Displays (LAD), one per each seat, replacing the existing six Multi-Functional Displays (MFD), plus a low-profile Head-Up Display (HUD). These will be combined with a new digital video and data recorder and a new augmented reality Helmet Mounted Display (HMD).
The M-346 Block 20 will also benefit from new navigation, weapon management, flight management system, IFF (Identification of Friend or Foe) transponder. Specifically for the M-346 F variant, further critical capability enhancements include an AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar featuring fire control radar capability, integration of new weapons for both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles in addition to a built-in missile datalink.
The most visible differences of M-346F from the standard configuration are the two wingtip missile rails, that bring the total hardpoints to seven, new antennas and the Defensive Aid Sub System (DASS). The aircraft, which is being proposed for Homeland Defence/Air Policing, Slow Mover Intercept, Close Air Support (CAS), Counter INsurgency (COIN), Forward Air Controller – Airborne (FAC-A), Combat Search And Rescue (CSAR), Interdiction, Battlefield Air Interdiction (BAI), Tactical Air Support for Maritime Operations (TASMO) and Tactical Reconnaissance roles, can carry more than 2,000 kg of weapons.
