M-346 was Selected by Israel

Israeli Defense Minister officially announced today that the air force Alenia Aermacchi chosen as a supplier of aircraft school. Israel to buy 30 F-346 for about $ 1 billion.


A lucrative contract lobbied the Korean KAI and Italian Alenia Aerachi, the producers of the latest school jet T-50 and M-346, who fight in games played in several auctions simultaneously, including in Poland. Already last month, Israeli media reported that January 16, Israeli air force showed M-346, as best meets their needs.

Today officially informed the Ministry of Defence confirmed in a statement. Given at the same time that Israel wants to buy 30 aircraft, and the value of the contract is worth approximately $ 1 billion. This sum will be fully compensated for the sale of arms and military equipment to Italy. The transaction must still be approved by the government. If all the formalities will be dealt with in accordance with the expectations of the army, the first M-346 will go to the recipient in 2014.


The decision provoked a sharp reaction from representatives of the Republic of Korea and KAI. They accuse the contract, lack of transparency and suggest that they sang for the amount of offset $ 1.6 billion.

Preserves the anonymity of the Air Force officers emphasize, however, that both aircraft have been tested in flight (realized in producing countries) and their characteristics - a thorough assessment. In the process skonstatowano that both jets satisfy user requests, but the M-346 will be cheaper to operate.

Reservations only provoked the Israeli case, to which was a prototype of this plane off the coast of the UAE in November last year. But the Italians gave all the documentation of the investigation, which shows that the cause of the event was electrical fault, which is characteristic only for the construction of prototypes.