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Alenia Aeronautica was an Italian aerospace company. Its subsidiaries included Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronavali.

Alenia Aeronautica was also the part-owner of ATR, a joint venture with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).

During January 2012, the company was reorganized as Alenia Aermacchi.[1] Three years later, it was fully merged into Finmeccanica, which has since reorganised itself as a more integrated business, adopting the Leonardo name for the group

History

Alenia Aeronautica was created during 1990 by merger of IRI's Aeritalia and Selenia subsidiaries.[2]

The new company was associated with several ongoing aircraft programmes and partnerships, including the multinational Eurofighter Typhoon fighter programme, the Panavia Tornado fighter-bomber. As a partner in Panavia Aircraft GmbH, Aeritalia manufactured the Tornado's wings while the other partners (British Aerospace and MBB/DASA) manufactured the rest of the airframe.[3] It also held a 20 per cent stake in Turbo-Union, a separate company formed to develop and build the RB199 engines for the aircraft.[4][5] Production of the Tornado ended in 1998; the final batch of aircraft being produced was delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force.[6]

RAF Typhoon FGR4 ZK356 shows off its delta wing, July 2016

Alenia had 19.5% a workshare stake in the Eurofighter Typhoon programme.[7] On 27 March 1994, the maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria.[8] In September 1998, contracts were signed for production of 148 Tranche 1 aircraft and procurement of long lead-time items for Tranche 2 aircraft.[9]

Yak-130 development

M-346 prototype 002 at Le Bourget airshow, 2005
Main article: Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master

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]

C-27J

In 1995, Alenia and Lockheed Martin began discussions to improve Alenia's G.222 utility transport aircraft using C-130J's glass cockpit and a more powerful version of the G.222's T64G engine and four-blade propellers. This became the C-27J and in 1997, Alenia and Lockheed Martin formed Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (LMATTS) to develop the C-27J. The design changed to use the C-130J's AE 2100 engine and six-blade propeller.[23] Other changes include a fully digital MIL-STD-1553 systems and avionics architecture, and an updated cargo compartment for increased commonality.[24] The C-27J has a 35% increase in range and a 15% faster cruise speed than the G.222.[23] Alenia Aeronautica paired with American defense specialist L-3 Communications to form the Global Military Aircraft Systems (GMAS) joint venture to market the C-27J;[25] Boeing also joined GMAS.[26] During 2007, it was announced that the C-27J had been selected by the US Defense Department for its Joint Cargo Aircraft programme;[27] the C-27J team was awarded an initial contract worth US$2.04 billion for 78 C-27Js in June 2007.[28]

Transition to Leonardo

During 2002, Alenia Aeronautica was incorporated when Finmeccanica restructured itself, spinning off its various divisions as independent companies. Finmeccanica has since reorganised itself into a more closely integrated business, adopting the Leonardo name for the group.[29]

Products

Aircraft

Unmanned aerial vehicles

Collaborations

Missiles

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Anni 1961 – 1972 Il boom economico e l'Aeritalia – Finmeccanica". www.finmeccanica.com. Retrieved 19 February 2016.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Lane, David (11 June 1991). "Alenia's disappointing debut". Financial Times.
  3. ^ Segell 1997, p. 125.
  4. ^ Segell 1997, p. 124.
  5. ^ Long, Wellington. "Swing-Wing Wonder Weapon Is Going Into Production." Ludington Daily News,24 August 1976.
  6. ^ Jackson et al. 1998, p. 241.
  7. ^ Haertl, Ronald. "Eurofighter—A Milestone Report". Archived 26 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine European Security and Defence. Retrieved: 3 July 2011.
  8. ^ "1994: Maiden flight for future fighter jet." BBC News, 27 February 1994. Retrieved: 19 March 2008.
  9. ^ Chuter, Andy. "EF2000 deal firms up first batch order." Flight International, 23 September 1998.
  10. ^ Moxon, Julian. "Aermacchi proves Yak-130/AEM performance." Flight International, 7 August 1996.
  11. ^ "Yak/Aermacchi trainer funds released; Russia will buy up to 200." Aviation Week, 27 February 1996.
  12. ^ "Italy studies the Yak/AEM-130 as Russia falters." Flight International, 21 October 1998.
  13. ^ a b Butowski, Piotr (1 May 2002). "Russian military trainer strategy falls into place; the selection of the Yak-130 marks an important step towards replacing the country's aging fleet of L-39Cs". Interavia Business & Technology. Aerospace Media Publishing. ISSN 1423-3215. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015 – via HighBeam Research.
  14. ^ a b "Aermacchi assembles M-346 trainer team to replace Russians." Flight International, 1 August 2000.
  15. ^ "F124 engine turns Yak-130 into the Aermacchi 346." Flight International, 25 July 2000.
  16. ^ Doyle, Andrew. "Aermacchi may seek new engine for Yak-130." Flight International, 1 February 2000.
  17. ^ CAE wins contract for the development and supply of Alenia Aermacchi's M-346 simulator (press release), 2004, archived from the original on 24 March 2006.
  18. ^ Peruzzi, Luca. "Greece’s HAI snatches stake in M346 trainer programme." Flight International, 24 January 2006.
  19. ^ "Alenia Aermacchi e Lacilena Enaer siglano MOU per M.346 e M.311" [ENAER signed a Memorandum of Understanding], Dedalo news, IT, March 2008, archived from the original on 3 March 2009.
  20. ^ "Boeing signed a Memorandum of Understanding", Defense News[dead link].
  21. ^ "The Aermacchi M-346 advanced trainer breaks the sound barrier. After 50 years an all-Italian aircraft flies at Mach 1" (PDF) (Press release). Alenia Aermacchi. 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2012.[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "M-346 Master Gains Military Certification" Air Forces Monthly (Key Publishing), Issue 282, September 2011, pp. 10. ISSN 0955-7091. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  23. ^ a b Frawley, Gerald. "LMATTS C-27J Spartan". The International Directory of Military Aircraft, 2002/2003. Fishwyck, ACT: Aerospace Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-875671-55-2.
  24. ^ "Enhancing Tactical Transport Capabilities" (PDF). Paper presented at the RTO SCI Symposium. Alenia Aerospazia and Lockheed Martin. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  25. ^ "C-27J Team." Archived 2 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine "C-27J Spartan." Retrieved: 11 June 2011.
  26. ^ "Boeing Jumps on JCA Competition." Archived 30 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine Air Force magazine, 2 May 2006.
  27. ^ "C-27J tapped for Joint Cargo Aircraft" Archived 14 August 2007 at the Library of Congress Web Archives, Air Force Times, 14 June 2007.
  28. ^ C-27J Spartan named as Joint Cargo Aircraft
  29. ^ "LEONARDO: FILING OF ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION". www.leonardocompany.com. Retrieved 10 January 2017.

Bibliography

External links

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