Airbus and Leonardo have established a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaboratively promote integrated training solutions and explore future strategies to address Air Dominance challenges.
Through this partnership, both firms will collectively target and pursue commercial opportunities for delivering advanced training systems, drawing on the M-346’s proven expertise, bolstered by over 100,000 flight hours logged globally by the aircraft. Airbus and Leonardo will also look to enhance their relationship and industrial collaboration to confront future military pilot training needs. This will be grounded in cooperation and synergies regarding specific platforms and initiatives, within the context of broader European and International collaboration.
‘A robust, innovative, and competitive defense sector is essential for bolstering the European defense landscape and achieving the sought-after “strategic autonomy”‘, stated Jean-Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus. ‘Leonardo is globally acknowledged as a pivotal player in the military pilot training market, and we believe our collaborative efforts could effectively meet our customer demands’.
‘With this arrangement, Leonardo and Airbus merge their unique expertise and capabilities to offer both European and International clients the most sophisticated and effective Integrated Training Systems solutions’, remarked Marco Zoff, Managing Director of Leonardo’s Aircraft Division. ‘Thanks to a collaborative technology development roadmap centered on M-346 ITS, both Companies will progressively cultivate advanced competencies for future air power by identifying emerging needs and creating innovative solutions, aimed at delivering effective next-generation fast-jet pilot training and operational readiness in intricate scenarios’.
Renewal in air power and emerging dynamics necessitate the full potential of the most sophisticated current solutions and the expedited advancement of new capabilities and technologies for managing fighter pilot effectiveness, including ground crew and aircrew training as a critical factor in maintaining pilot proficiency and readiness to apply their skills.
The European Advanced Trainer market is projected to account for over 400 new aircraft deliveries within the next two decades, alongside an additional €12 billion earmarked for the provision of advanced pilot training services.
