Alenia Aeronautica

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.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name='segell125'>Segell 1997, p. 125.</ref> 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.<ref name='segell124'>Segell 1997, p. 124.</ref><ref name= 'Wellington'>Long, Wellington. "Swing-Wing Wonder Weapon Is Going Into Production." Ludington Daily News,24 August 1976.</ref> Production of the Tornado ended in 1998; the final batch of aircraft being produced was delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force.<ref name=Janes_241>Jackson et al. 1998, p. 241.</ref>

File:Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 MOD 45160576.jpg

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

Alenia had 19.5% a workshare stake in the Eurofighter Typhoon programme.<ref>Haertl, Ronald. "Eurofighter—A Milestone Report". Template:Webarchive European Security and Defence. Retrieved: 3 July 2011.</ref> On 27 March 1994, the maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria.<ref name="maiden">"1994: Maiden flight for future fighter jet." BBC News, 27 February 1994. Retrieved: 19 March 2008.</ref> In September 1998, contracts were signed for production of 148 TrancheTemplate:Nbsp1 aircraft and procurement of long lead-time items for TrancheTemplate:Nbsp2 aircraft.<ref>Chuter, Andy. "EF2000 deal firms up first batch order." Flight International, 23 September 1998.</ref>

Yak-130 development

File:Aermacchi M-346-002(w).jpg

M-346 prototype 002 at Le Bourget airshow, 2005

Template:Main 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.<ref>Moxon, Julian. "Aermacchi proves Yak-130/AEM performance." Flight International, 7 August 1996.</ref> The resulting aircraft first flew in 1996 and by this point, the aircraft was being marketed as the Yak/AEM-130.<ref>"Yak/Aermacchi trainer funds released; Russia will buy up to 200." Aviation Week, 27 February 1996.</ref>

In October 1998, it was reported that the venture was increasingly becoming an Italian-led effort due to a lack of Russian financial support.<ref>"Italy studies the Yak/AEM-130 as Russia falters." Flight International, 21 October 1998.</ref>

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.<ref name="IBT_2002">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="russ replace">"Aermacchi assembles M-346 trainer team to replace Russians." Flight International, 1 August 2000.</ref> 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.<ref name="IBT_2002" /> The M-346 is a highly modified version of the aircraft that developed under the joint venture, using equipment exclusively from Western manufacturers.<ref name="russ replace" /><ref name="engine 2000">"F124 engine turns Yak-130 into the Aermacchi 346." Flight International, 25 July 2000.</ref><ref>Doyle, Andrew. "Aermacchi may seek new engine for Yak-130." Flight International, 1 February 2000.</ref> The first M-346 prototype rolled out on 7 June 2003, and conducted its maiden flight on 15 July 2004.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref>

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.<ref>Peruzzi, Luca. "Greece’s HAI snatches stake in M346 trainer programme." Flight International, 24 January 2006.</ref>

In March 2008, the Chilean ENAER signed an MOU with Alenia at the FIDAE air show.<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> 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.<ref>Template:CitationTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore.</ref> 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.<ref name="AAPR1">Template:Cite press releaseTemplate:Dead link</ref>

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.<ref name="AFM282">"M-346 Master Gains Military Certification" Air Forces Monthly (Key Publishing), Issue 282, September 2011, pp. 10. ISSN 0955-7091. Retrieved 30 September 2011.</ref>

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.<ref name=Frawley_Military>Frawley, Gerald. "LMATTS C-27J Spartan". The International Directory of Military Aircraft, 2002/2003. Fishwyck, ACT: Aerospace Publications, 2002. Template:ISBN.</ref> Other changes include a fully digital MIL-STD-1553 systems and avionics architecture, and an updated cargo compartment for increased commonality.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The C-27J has a 35% increase in range and a 15% faster cruise speed than the G.222.<ref name=Frawley_Military/> 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;<ref>"C-27J Team." Template:Webarchive "C-27J Spartan." Retrieved: 11 June 2011.</ref> Boeing also joined GMAS.<ref>Template:Usurped Air Force magazine, 2 May 2006.</ref> During 2007, it was announced that the C-27J had been selected by the US Defense Department for its Joint Cargo Aircraft programme;<ref name="AF Times JCA">"C-27J tapped for Joint Cargo Aircraft" Template:Webarchive, Air Force Times, 14 June 2007.</ref> the C-27J team was awarded an initial contract worth US$2.04 billion for 78 C-27Js in June 2007.<ref name="JCA_award">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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Products

Aircraft

• Alenia C-27J Spartan
• ATR 42
• ATR 72
• Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master

Unmanned aerial vehicles

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

Collaborations

• Eurofighter with EADS and BAE Systems
• AMX International with Embraer
• Panavia Tornado via Panavia Aircraft GmbH
• nEUROn Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle with Dassault Aviation (among others)
• Boeing 787 via Global Aeronautica, LLC with Boeing

Missiles

• Aspide

See also

• Alenia Marconi Systems
• Thales Alenia Space, ex-Alenia Spazio and ex-Alcatel Alenia Space

References

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. Template:ISBN.
• Template:Cite book