Yak-130 development
During 1992, Aermacchi signed a cooperation agreement with Russian aircraft company Yakovlev to support a new trainer that the firm was developing for the Russian Air Force. Aermacchi secured the right to modify and market the aircraft for the Western market.[10] The resulting aircraft first flew in 1996 and by this point, the aircraft was being marketed as the Yak/AEM-130.[11]
In October 1998, it was reported that the venture was increasingly becoming an Italian-led effort due to a lack of Russian financial support.[12]
In mid-2000, it was announced that differences between the two firms and a lack of backing from the Russian participants had ended the partnership. Instead, each company would pursue independent development. Yakovlev received a final payment of US$77 million for technical documents.[13][14] Yakovlev would be able to sell the Yak-130 to countries such as those in the Commonwealth of Independent States, India, Slovakia and Algeria, while Aermacchi had the right to sell the M-346 to NATO nations and others.[13] The M-346 is a highly modified version of the aircraft that developed under the joint venture, using equipment exclusively from Western manufacturers.[14][15][16] The first M-346 prototype rolled out on 7 June 2003, and conducted its maiden flight on 15 July 2004.[17]
In January 2005, the Greek Ministry of Defense signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to become a partner in the programme and an industrial cooperation agreement between Alenia and the Hellenic Aerospace Industry was signed the following year.[18]
In March 2008, the Chilean ENAER signed an MOU with Alenia at the FIDAE air show.[19] During May 2008, Boeing signed an MOU to cooperate on the marketing, sales, training and support of two Aermacchi trainers, the M-346 and the M-311.[20] On 18 December 2008, Aermacchi announced that the M-346 had attained a maximum speed of Mach 1.15 (1,255 km/h, 678 knots, 780 mph), claiming the occasion to be the first in which an all-Italian built aircraft had broken the sound barrier in 50 years.[21]
On 20 June 2011, a Military Type Certification was granted to Alenia Aermacchi for the M-346 Master by the General Directorate for Aeronautical Armaments of the Italian Ministry of Defence in Rome.[22]
