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The Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master is a military twin-engine transonic trainer aircraft. The type is currently operated by the air forces of Italy, Israel, Singapore and Poland. Originally co-developed with Yakovlev as the Yak/AEM-130, partnership ended in 2000 and Alenia Aermacchi seperately developed the M-346 Master while Yakolev continued work on the Yakovlev Yak-130. First flight of the M-346 took place in 2004. ==Development== In 1993, Aermacchi signed an agreement to partner with Yakovlev on the new trainer the firm had been developing since 1991 for the Russian Air Force. The resulting aircraft first flew in 1996 and was brought to Italy the following year to replace the aging MB-339. At the time, the aircraft was marketed as the ''Yak/AEM-130'', however, by 2000, differences in priorities between the two firms had brought about an end to the partnership, with each developing the aircraft independently; Yakovlev received US$77 million for technical documents of the aircraft. Yakovlev would be able to sell the aircraft to countries such those in the Commonwealth of Independent States, India, Slovakia and Algeria. Aeromacchi would be able to sell to NATO countries, among others.〔 A Russian version is also being pursued by Yakovlev and Sokol, under a different time schedule. The M-346 is a highly modified version of the aircraft the joint venture produced, and uses equipment exclusively from Western manufacturers. The first prototype rolled out on 7 June 2003 and flew for the first time on 15 July 2004. In January 2005, the Greek Ministry of Defence signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to become a partner in the programme and, in 2006, Aermacchi signed an industrial cooperation agreement with Hellenic Aerospace Industry. In July 2007, the M-346 flew to the United Arab Emirates for hot weather tests and operational evaluation by the UAE Air Force. In March 2008 the Chilean ENAER signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alenia Aermacchi at the FIDAE air show.〔.〕 On 10 April 2008 one further prototype in the final configuration (new landing gear and air brake, more composite parts) was rolled out: first flight of this "Industrial Baseline Configuration" was expected in June.〔.〕 On 18 December 2008, the M-346 reached a maximum speed of Mach 1.15 (1,255 km/h, 678 knots, 780 mph). In May 2008 Boeing signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on the marketing, sales, training and support of two Aermacchi trainers, the M-346 and the M-311.〔.〕 The development of a full-mission simulator for the M-346 has been awarded to CAE and is under development.〔.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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