Italy intends to negotiate up to 30 M-346 light fighters for Brazil

The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, and the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will discuss a possible agreement for at least 30 M-346 light fighters for the Air Force and also the Brazilian Navy.

A meeting between the two leaders will take place in November during the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro and the subject will be on the agenda, according to sources from the Brazilian magazine Veja.

The plan would be to supply 24 M-346 jets to the FAB that would replace the remaining A-1 (AMX) attack aircraft. In addition, the Brazilian Navy would receive at least six of these aircraft to possibly take the place of the old AF-1, as the McDonnell Douglas A-4 is called in service.

The FAB has in fact been probing the market for aircraft to complement the modern Saab Gripen E/F fighters.

There are two focuses at the moment: having a second, more affordable fighter that could be a second-hand jet like the US F-16, and also a light jet that could serve as an attack and advanced training aircraft.

The Air Force has even mentioned the T-7A Red Hawk, produced by Boeing with the help of Saab, and the M-346 itself, whose Air Force Commander in the previous administration even flew in Italy.

Partnership with Russians
The M-346 is produced by Leonardo, an Italian manufacturer that emerged from the merger of companies such as Aeritalia and Aermacchi. They were partners with Embraer in the design of the AMX in the 1980s.

The attack jet was only supplied to Italy and Brazil, but the European country recently decommissioned it. The FAB received 56 aircraft, named A-1, and modernized some, but there are few active aircraft left.

Leornardo M-346FA (Adrian Pingstone)
Two years ago, at least 21 AMXs had been written off, some due to accidents and others for scrapping. The Air Force intends to retire them in 2025.
Like the A-1, the M-346 is a subsonic jet, but it was designed for advanced training and therefore has two seats.

The project was developed by Aermacchi in partnership with the Russian company Yakovlev, where it was named Yak-130. The two companies ended up separating and each continued with its own aircraft.

The M-346 is currently operated by Italy, Poland, Qatar, Greece, Israel and Singapore.