Leonardo is to start work on the Austrian air force’s future fleet of 12 M-346 F Block 20 training and light-attack aircraft, having received a contract award via Italy’s Directorate of Aeronautical Armaments and Airworthiness.

Austria in late-November signed off on the acquisition, which it valued at around €1.5 billion ($17.5 billion) and will see aircraft shipments commence in 2028.

Announcing its receipt of the award via Rome on 17 December, Leonardo states: “The contract includes aircraft supplied in the light fighter configuration… equipped with cockpits featuring a large area display, active electronically scanned array radar, a Link 16 data link, electronic countermeasures, and new weapon systems.”

The airframer’s contract also covers its provision of “a complex suite of simulation systems, an initial stock of spare parts, ground equipment and logistics/maintenance support for six years following the delivery of the first aircraft”.

Stefano Bortoli, managing director of Leonardo’s aeronautics division, says the export success “confirms the international competitiveness of the M-346” and “responds to the need for operational versatility dictated by today’s scenarios”.

Austria is lead customer for the in-development Block 20 standard of the M-346, with its purchase having been contracted via a government-to-government agreement.

Being acquired as replacements for Saab 105 jet trainers withdrawn from use at the start of this decade, Austria’s new aircraft will be employed for pilot instruction tasks, along with undertaking “lower-intensity operations”. That will see the armed type employed alongside in support of its fleet of 15 Eurofighter Typhoons.

The M-346 F Block 20 will be able to carry a maximum stores payload of 3,000kg (6,610lb) across seven hardpoints.

Leonardo says it has to date secured orders for almost 160 M-346s, with the twin-engined type having amassed over 150,000 operational flight hours.