Italy’s national aerobatic team, the Frecce Tricolori, will soon swap their Aermacchi AT-339PANs for Leonardo T-346A Masters, according to a surprise announcement by the Italian Air Force today.
Photo: Italian Air Force
A T-346 in redesigned Frecce Tricolori colours was unveiled at Istrana Air Base on the 12th of September at an event celebrating the team’s return from a landmark North American tour spanning June, July and August.
The Frecce had previously been expected to transition to the smaller, less powerful T-345A High Efficiency Trainer, an updated version of the SIAI-Marchetti S.211 used for basic jet training. Initially, the team had been expected to receive T-345s in the late 2010s, but this plan was pushed back indefinitely due to production delays and operational problems. Some testing did occur, with former Frecce Tricolori pilots flying the T-345 in 2014 and one jet was painted in team colours. However, it has more recently been decided that the T-345 is not suitable for use by a large jet aerobatic team.
Instead, the team will use the T-346, an advanced jet trainer and light multirole combat aircraft that was introduced in 2015 and which now serves extensively with the Italian Air Force and numerous other air arms around the world. Italy will be the first to deploy the T-346 for a formation aerobatic team.
Swapping the AT-339 for T-346As will drastically change the Frecce Tricolori’s display routine, which famously varies little from one year to the next and has not been put through a major redesign since the 1980s. Current classic Frecce Tricolori solo manoeuvres, such as the “crazy flight”, tailslide and lomcovak, will almost certainly become impossible, and the overall G limit will be more restrictive. However, the T-346 will offer considerably more power and a higher alpha limit.
Italy currently operates 18 T-346s for the training and aggressor roles, so assuming the team will continue performing with the current formation of ten aircraft, plus spares, a fresh order of around 15 new jets will be necessary.