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jueves, 20 de septiembre de 2018

Leonardo and African Group Paramount signed a LoI to evaluate a cooperation for a weaponized configuration of the M-345 for the African market

- Leonardo  and the African-based global defence and aerospace company Paramount Group signed a Letter  of Intent during “Africa Aerospace & Defence”  in Pretoria


- The agreement  is aimed to assess the development of an  operative configuration of the  M-345 for the African market


- The M-345,  already ordered  by Italian Air Force,  is the new basic/advanced Trainer of Leonardo


Rome,  September  20th 2018  – Leonardo  and the Paramount  Group signed a Letter  of Intent during the “Africa  Aerospace & Defence” exhibition  held in Pretoria. According to the agreement,  Leonardo and Paramount, will evaluate a cooperation for the development of an operational configuration of  M-345 jet trainer marketed in the African market and will  include the possible involvement of Paramount in the SF-260 programme and its Logistic Support services.


Lucio  Valerio  Cioffi, Leonardo’s  Aircraft Division Managing  Director, said: “we believe  the African market shows great potential for the M-345 programme. We think that a collaboration with a  high level partner, such as Paramount,  is strategic to develop a new M-345 operational configuration  for the African market. The M-345 is a basic/advanced trainer  with multirole capabilities and costs comparable to a turboprop aircraft.    These characteristics and more make the M-345 perfectly suited for the African market.”


The  new M-345  is allows Air  Forces to reduce  training times and  enables trainees to leverage  a platform with higher performance  flight characteristics than current basic/advanced  training aircraft in service worldwide. Furthermore it allows to carry out the most demanding missions in the  training syllabus in order to achieve high quality training  at significantly lower costs.


Ralph  Mills, Paramount  Advanced Technologies  CEO, stated: “We are very excited to launch and demonstrate  our Smart Weapons Integration on Fast-Jet Trainers (SWIFT) mission system alongside the  African debut of Leonardo’s M-345 jet trainer.    SWIFT is focused on current threats and current customer  requirements. It offers low acquisition and operation costs  and is suitable for non-conventional or asymmetric warfare. It  addresses the customers growing need for multi-role configuration  to adapt to different mission roles without major re-configuration and  extended time delay. The platform can be described as short timeframe,  light combat and surveillance solution utilising the best of the best in the  defence industry.”


The  M-345  cockpit  architecture  is the same as  the frontline fighters.  The M-345 can also perform  operational roles, thanks to  an extended flight envelope, with  high-speed maneuvering capability even  at high altitudes, modern avionics systems,  high load capacity and performance.


The  long life-cycle  of the aircraft,  the maintenance philosophy  based on just two levels eliminating  expensive general overhauls and the structure  and system health monitoring system (HUMS) contributes  to the costs reduction of M-345.


The  pilot  will be  able to perform  with higher efficiency  planned maneuvers beforehand,  fly in formation with other airplanes  interacting in real time via data-link  with other pilots both on other aircrafts  in flight and on ground simulators, thanks  to the sophisticated training simulator on board. Furthermore it is possible to plan the mission scenarios  and then download the flight data thanks to the “Mission Planning and Debriefing Station” (MPDS) re-analyzing the missions carried out during  the debriefing phase. The engine on the trainer is a turbofan Williams FJ44-4M-34  and it is optimized for military and acrobatic use. The cockpit is based upon HOTAS (Hands On Throttle-And-Stick) controls, glass cockpit with three color MFD (Multi-function  Display) touch screen and a Head-up display which is mirrored by a fourth screen in the  rear seat.