What Leonardo will do for Nigeria
Nigeria confirms delivery of the first batch of Leonardo M-346 advanced trainer and fighter aircraft this year.
Leonardo is preparing to deliver the first M-346 advanced trainer and light attack aircraft to Nigeria.
On 19 April the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) confirmed the delivery program with the first 6 examples of the aircraft made by Leonardo within this year, we read on the armed force's website .
“Leonardo's Vice President of Sales Africa, Claudio Sabatino, assured the Chief of Staff (Cas), Air Mashal Hasan Abubakar, of the group's constant commitment to the timely delivery of the M-346 fighter aircraft starting from the first batch of 6 expected in Nigeria before the end of the year 2024” informs the statement from the Nigerian Air Force.
It was last November when the African press reported the news of the conclusion of the contract between Nigeria and Leonardo for the purchase by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) of 24 M-346 FA (Fighter Attack) as part of a contract whose estimated value is 1.2 billion euros, reported Ares Difesa .
The news is not "entirely obvious from the stock on the stock exchange, according to Banca Akros" MF reported yesterday.
Meanwhile, Textron and Leonardo aim to present the Italian group's M-346 aircraft in the future tender to provide the US Navy with its next-generation trainer, as executives of the two groups told Breaking Defense in a recent interview . Already last September the two companies announced that they would target the US Navy's next training program, which would likely put them in competition with Boeing's T-7A and the Lockheed Martin-KAI T-50.
All the details.
LEONARDO'S M-346FA PROGRAM IN NIGERIA
The Nigerian Air Force will boost its fleet with the upcoming delivery of six Leonardo-built M-346 advanced trainer and light attack aircraft by the end of 2024.
Furthermore, the CAS proposed the establishment of a dedicated program management office, tasked with overseeing all aspects of the collaboration. As stated in the press release, Air Marshal Abubakar took the opportunity of manager Sabatino's visit to reiterate the importance of Leonardo's physical presence in Nigeria as a maintenance hub for its long list of African customers, also underlining the need of close coordination and synergy in achieving shared objectives regarding rapid fleet delivery.
Both parties agreed on the importance of regular dialogue and collaboration, as well as on the scheduling of future meetings to explore detailed agreements on logistics, maintenance protocols and configuration requirements, the NAF note continues.
WHAT THE CONTRACT PROVIDES
The contract with Leonardo included a maintenance and support contract for a minimum of 25 years. The aircraft will be used for “close air support, air interdiction and tactical reconnaissance, as well as advanced pilot training,” the Air Force said in a statement.
The 24 aircraft will be delivered in four batches of six, with 25 years of logistics support included in the contract, the statement added.
THE COMMENT FROM BANCA AKROS ANALYSTS
«We have been monitoring the news flow on the Nigeria contract for at least 12/18 months; the contract is estimated to be worth around €1.2 billion, but no major deal was mentioned by the company in 2023, so it is possible that it was signed/became effective/booked in early 2024,” Banca speculates Akros. «The news is clearly positive and is not entirely taken for granted in the price of the stock on which we have a buy rating and a target price of 21 euros» adds the bank, reported yesterday by MF .
THE COUNTRIES THAT HAVE CHOSEN THE M-346
Designed as an advanced training fighter, the M-346 can also be used as a light attack aircraft. Leonardo has launched a fighter strike version of its advanced trainer dubbed the M-346FA.
As Defense Analysis recalls , “Nigeria is the second customer of the FA combat version of the M-346FT Master trainer after Turkmenistan which ordered 4 M-346FA and two M-346FT. Other 12 Fa and 12 FT are the subject of a declaration of intent signed by Azerbaijan in 2020. The training version is instead supplied to the air forces of Italy (18), Poland (16), Qatar (6), Israel (30 ), Greece (10) and Singapore (12) while some nations have expressed interest in acquiring it such as Egypt (negotiations for 24 examples), Uruguay (6) and Botswana (6).”
THE US NAVY TRAINER COMPETITION
Finally, the news of the upcoming deliveries of the first M-346FA to Nigeria by 2024 comes the day after the news that Textron and Leonardo will propose the M-346 in the next tender for the US Navy trainer.
According to Breaking Defense , Textron and Leonardo executives hope that the Italian company's M-346 aircraft experience will help them win the right to supply the US Navy with its next-generation trainer.
In its effort to replace aging T-45 trainers, the U.S. Navy issued a request for information last August for what was officially dubbed the “Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS).” There is talk of a minimum purchase of 145 aircraft and contract award in 2026. This means that a request for proposal could be launched by the end of this year or early 2025, which would officially see the start of competition.
Much of the Textron-Leonardo team's thesis is that the M346 is not just a jet, but is tied to an entire training program already in use on a global scale, including international F-35 pilot training, still highlights the American newspaper. Italy, Poland, Singapore, Israel, Greece and Qatar are all operators of the M-346 – and all except Qatar – are current or planned operators of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/cosa-fara-leonardo-per-la-nigeria/ on Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:02:25 +0000.