M-346 Master
ICAO M346An Italian advanced jet trainer with a Russian ancestor. Live M-346 Master positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No M-346 Master is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Leonardo
- Role
- Advanced jet training and light attack
- Class
- L2J — Landplane, 2 jet engines
- Crew
- 2
- First flight
- 15 July 2004
- In service
- 2015
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the M-346 Master
The M-346 began as a joint project with Yakovlev, which is why it and the Russian Yak-130 look so similar — the two companies developed a common design and then went their separate ways in 2000, each finishing its own aircraft.
What Leonardo produced is one of the better advanced trainers available: fly-by-wire, high angle of attack handling deliberately tuned to mimic a fourth or fifth generation fighter, and a ground simulation system that networks aircraft together in flight.
Italy, Israel, Poland, Singapore, Greece, Qatar and Austria fly it. Italy also runs the International Flight Training School at Decimomannu, where other nations send students, which puts a lot of M-346 activity over Sardinia.
Callsign prefixes
- IAM
- Italian Air Force
- PLF
- Polish Air Force
- IAF
- Israeli Air Force
How to recognise it
- —A small twin-engine jet with tandem seats and a stepped canopy.
- —Distinctive leading-edge root extensions running forward along the fuselage.
- —Intakes low on the fuselage sides beneath the wing root.
Common questions
+ Why does the M-346 look like the Yak-130?
Because they share a design. Leonardo and Yakovlev developed the aircraft jointly in the 1990s and split in 2000, each completing its own version from the common work.
+ What is the International Flight Training School?
A joint Leonardo and Italian Air Force school at Decimomannu in Sardinia, where several countries send pilots for advanced jet training on the M-346.
+ Is the M-346 armed?
The M-346FA variant is, with pylons for guns, bombs and missiles and a radar option, marketed as a light attack aircraft alongside the training role.