Alenia Aeronautica was an Italian

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

company. Its

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...

included Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronavali. Alenia Aeronautica was also the part-owner of ATR, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). During January 2012, the company was reorganized as Alenia Aermacchi. 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 Aeritalia was an aerospace engineering corporation based in Italy. It was formed out of the merger of two aviation companies, Fiat Aviazione and Aerfer, in 1969. Aeritalia continued several programs of its preceding companies, perhaps most pr ...

and Selenia subsidiaries. The new company was associated with several ongoing aircraft programmes and partnerships, including the multinational

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Syste ...

fighter programme, the

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary #Variants, Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ...

fighter-bomber. As a partner in Panavia Aircraft GmbH, Aeritalia manufactured the Tornado's wings while the other partners (

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

and MBB/

DASA DASA (officially Deutsche AeroSpace AG, later Daimler-Benz AeroSpace AG, then DaimlerChrysler AeroSpace AG) was a German aerospace manufacturer. It was created during 1989 as the aerospace subsidiary arm of Daimler-Benz, Daimler-Benz AG (later D ...

) manufactured the rest of the airframe.Segell 1997, p. 125. It also held a 20 per cent stake in Turbo-Union, a separate company formed to develop and build the

RB199 The Turbo-Union RB199 is a turbofan jet engine designed and built in the early 1970s by Turbo-Union, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce, MTU and Aeritalia. The only production application was the Panavia Tornado, but it was used in the Bri ...

engines for the aircraft.Segell 1997, p. 124.Long, Wellington
"Swing-Wing Wonder Weapon Is Going Into Production."
''Ludington Daily News,''24 August 1976. Production of the Tornado ended in 1998; the final batch of aircraft being produced was delivered to the

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF; ) is the military aviation, aviation branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force currently has wings, squadrons, and a special forces unit dedicated to comba ...

.Jackson et al. 1998, p. 241. Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 MOD 45160576

Alenia had 19.5% a workshare stake in the Eurofighter Typhoon programme. On 27 March 1994, the

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...

of the Eurofighter prototype took place in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

."1994: Maiden flight for future fighter jet."
''BBC News'', 27 February 1994. Retrieved: 19 March 2008. In September 1998, contracts were signed for production of 148 Tranche1 aircraft and procurement of long lead-time items for Tranche2 aircraft.

Yak-130 development

During 1992, Aermacchi signed a cooperation agreement with Russian aircraft company

Yakovlev The Joint-stock company, JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau () is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). Its head office is in Aeroport District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow. It is a subsidiary of Yakovle ...

to support a new trainer that the firm was developing for the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

. Aermacchi secured the right to modify and market the aircraft for the Western market. The resulting aircraft first flew in 1996 and by this point, the aircraft was being marketed as the Yak/AEM-130. In October 1998, it was reported that the venture was increasingly becoming an Italian-led effort due to a lack of Russian financial support. 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."Aermacchi assembles M-346 trainer team to replace Russians."
''Flight International'', 1 August 2000. Yakovlev would be able to sell the Yak-130 to countries such as those in the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, while Aermacchi had the right to sell the M-346 to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

nations and others. The M-346 is a highly modified version of the aircraft that developed under the joint venture, using equipment exclusively from Western manufacturers."F124 engine turns Yak-130 into the Aermacchi 346."
''Flight International'', 25 July 2000. The first M-346 prototype rolled out on 7 June 2003, and conducted its maiden flight on 15 July 2004. 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. In March 2008, the

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an ENAER signed an MOU with Alenia at the FIDAE air show. During May 2008,

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

signed an MOU to cooperate on the marketing, sales, training and support of two Aermacchi trainers, the M-346 and the M-311. 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. 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 Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

."M-346 Master Gains Military Certification" ''

Air Forces Monthly ''Air Forces Monthly'' (AFM) is a military aviation magazine published by Key Publishing Ltd, based at Stamford in the English county of Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. Established in 1988, the magazine provides news and analysis on mi ...

'' (

Key Publishing Key Publishing is a magazine publishing company specialising in aviation titles, based in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. History ''Airliner World'' was launched in 1999. In 2005 it launched ''Airports of the World'', and in the same year it ...

), Issue 282, September 2011, pp. 10. ISSN 0955-7091. Retrieved 30 September 2011.

C-27J

In 1995, Alenia and

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

began discussions to improve Alenia's G.222 utility transport aircraft using C-130J's

glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features an array of electronic (digital) flight instrument display device, displays, typically large liquid-crystal display, LCD screens, rather than traditional Analog device, analog dials and gauges ...

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.Frawley, Gerald. "LMATTS C-27J Spartan". ''The International Directory of Military Aircraft, 2002/2003''. Fishwyck, ACT: Aerospace Publications, 2002. . Other changes include a fully digital MIL-STD-1553 systems and avionics architecture, and an updated cargo compartment for increased commonality. The C-27J has a 35% increase in range and a 15% faster cruise speed than the G.222. Alenia Aeronautica paired with American defense specialist

L-3 Communications L3 Technologies, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, was an American company that supplied command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ( C3ISR) systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training ...

to form the Global Military Aircraft Systems (GMAS) joint venture to market the C-27J;

also joined GMAS. During 2007, it was announced that the C-27J had been selected by the US Defense Department for its Joint Cargo Aircraft programme;"C-27J tapped for Joint Cargo Aircraft"
, Air Force Times, 14 June 2007. the C-27J team was awarded an initial contract worth US$2.04 billion for 78 C-27Js in June 2007.C-27J Spartan named as Joint Cargo Aircraft
/ref>

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.

Products

Aircraft

Alenia C-27J Spartan The Alenia C-27J Spartan is a military transport aircraft developed and manufactured by Leonardo's Aircraft Division (formerly Alenia Aermacchi until 2016). It is an advanced derivative of the former Alenia Aeronautica's earlier G.222 (C-27 ...

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aér ...

ATR 72 The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR. The number "72" in its name is derived from the aircraft's typical standard seating capacity of 72 pa ...

* Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master

Unmanned aerial vehicles

* Alenia Aeronautica ITV * Alenia Aermacchi Sky-X * Alenia Aermacchi Sky-Y

Collaborations

Eurofighter The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems ...

with

EADS Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Airbus has long been th ...

and

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

* AMX International with

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation. It develops and manufactures aircraft and aviation systems, and provides leasing, equipment, and technical support services. Embraer is the third largest producer of civil air ...

via Panavia Aircraft GmbH *

nEUROn A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural net ...

Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircra ...

with Dassault Aviation (among others) *

Boeing 787 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, wh ...

via Global Aeronautica, LLC with

Missiles

Aspide Aspide, named for the asp, is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia and its successors, Alenia Aeronautica and MBDA that was developed in the 1970s to replace license built AIM-7 Sparrows then in us ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Jackson, Paul, Kenneth Munson, Lindsay Peacock and John W. R. Taylor, eds. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1997–98.'' London: Jane's Information Group, 1998. . *

External links

{{Authority control Alenia Aermacchi Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Italy Defence companies of Italy Leonardo S.p.A. Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1990 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2012 Italian companies disestablished in 2012 Italian brands Italian companies established in 1990