Singapore’s ST Engineering

Ready for competition
Italian M-346 takes on Lockheed T-50 in Singapore
By Tom Kington
February 01, 2009
Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi has teamed with Boeing and Singapore’s ST Engineering to jointly pitch its M-346 trainer to Singapore. “The three companies have been working together for months,” Aermacchi CEO Carmelo Cosentino said.
After much discussion and anticipation, the Asian island state released a formal request for proposals late last year.
After excluding BAE Systems’ Hawk from the running, Singapore short-listed the Aermacchi M-346 and Korea Aerospace Industries’ T-50 in late 2008 in preparation to buy up to a dozen new jet trainers, most likely early this year. South Korea’s KAI has teamed with Lockheed Martin to build and market the T-50.


Cosentino said it has not been decided which partner behind the M-346 bid would act as prime contractor. “We could create a new company to fulfill that role,” he said. In the meantime, plans are in the works for more Italian funds to further develop the aircraft’s fly-by-wire systems.
Although the Singapore competition involves few aircraft, it is being closely monitored as other jet trainer fleets around the world near retirement age. Boeing teamed with Aermacchi in May to promote the M-346 in markets outside the U.S., and Cosentino said the U.S. firm was now involved “in a limited fashion” with Aermacchi in its bid to supply the M-346 to the United Arab Emirates, where the Italian-built trainer is also facing off with the T-50.
Aermacchi’s parent company, Finmeccanica, meanwhile announced a partnership in October with Mubadala Development, a UAE investment agency, to build composite components for civilian aircraft.
A source at Aermacchi said the deal was not directly related to the M-346 pitch in the United Arab Emirates, but added that “having good relations can have a weight.”
Aermacchi also is talking to firms, including Boeing, about forging a partnership to market the M-346 in the U.S. as a T-38 replacement.
“We are doing a study,” Cosentino said. “A partner would need to have a good capacity for lobbying and investment, and we are talking to Boeing and others.”
“The choice between the supersonic T-50 and the subsonic M-346 comes down to syllabus philosophy. Do you want supersonic or not?” said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at the Teal Group, Fairfax, Va.
With no two-seater Joint Strike Fighter being built, JSF customers may be reluctant to send pilots from subsonic trainers to flying the supersonic JSF solo, he noted.
“As a JSF customer, Singapore may opt for the T-50, also because Lockheed Martin is already prime contractor on its basic trainer. For the UAE, the M-346 will be a good replacement for its Hawks and Aermacchis,” he said.
While the M-346, recently dubbed the “Master,” is being marketed as a sub- or trans-sonic aircraft, it has demonstrated limited supersonic capabilities. In a December flight, a prototype aircraft reached Mach 1.15 at an altitude of 45,000 feet.
“The M-346 is lower cost and will be a good way to replace Hawks and Aermacchis at a similar operating and acquisition cost,” Aboulafia added. “In the U.S., however, the T-50 will have an advantage as it is the equivalent to the supersonic T-38.”
While the T-50 is in service with its launch customer, the Korean Air Force, Aermacchi is awaiting the final sign-off on funding for the acquisition of 15 M-346s by its first customer, the Italian Air Force.
“The signing for the first batch within the order should happen within a few weeks, at most by year end,” Cosentino said.
That first batch order would likely amount to six aircraft plus simulators and logistics, he added, as well as some work on improvements to the Lecce Air Force base in southern Italy, where the aircraft will be hosted, and where Aermacchi also has suggested Singapore could send pilots for training if it buys the M-346.
Planning for the initial six-plane order, Aermacchi has placed a $52 million engine contract with Honeywell’s International Turbine Engine Co. for 20 F124-GA-200 engines to power 10 of the twin-engine trainers.
The contract, which also pays for support for the engines, was the “minimum buy practical,” Cosentino said, “but could partly cover a successive contract with another customer.”
With an eye on a future light fighter version of the M-346, Cosentino also said talks were under way with Finmeccanica stablemate Selex Galileo about mounting radar on the aircraft, starting with the mechanically scanned Grifo, but not excluding the electronically scanned Vixen.