Alenia Aeronautica

Alenia Aeronautica was created during 1990 by concentrating the Finmeccanica[2] aerospace and defense industries Aeritalia and Selenia. 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.[3]

Immediately upon its creation, Alenia was associated with several ongoing aircraft programmes, including the multinational Eurofighter Typhoon fighter programme, the Panavia Tornado fighter-bomber, along with various other initiatives and partnerships. Its work on the Tornado was largely conducted via Panavia Aircraft GmbH, a tri-national consortium consisting of British Aerospace (previously British Aircraft Corporation), MBB of West Germany, and its Aeritalia subsidiary. Under this arrangement, Aeritalia manufactured the Tornado's wings on behalf of all international customers while the other partners manufactured the rest of the airframe.[4] It also held a 20 per cent stake in the Tornado's engine manufacturer Turbo-Union, a separate multinational company formed to develop and build the RB199 engines for the aircraft.[5][6] Production of the Tornado was terminated during 1998; the final batch of aircraft being produced was delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force, who had ordered a total of 96 IDS Tornados.[7]

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

During the 1990s, the in-development Eurofighter proceeded towards the mass production phase, Alenia holding a workshare stake in the programme. The workshare split had originally been agreed at 33/33/21/13 (United Kingdom/Germany/Italy/Spain) based on the number of units being ordered by each contributing nations.[8] However, following order cuts during the peace dividend following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the programme's workshare split was renegotiated as 43% for EADS MAS in Germany and Spain; 37.5% for BAE Systems in the UK; and 19.5% for Alenia.[9][8] On 27 March 1994, the maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria, flown by DASA chief test pilot Peter Weger.[10] Production was divided into three tranches, these being a production/funding distinction without directly implying an incremental increase in capability with each tranche. Tranche 3 was later divided into A and B parts.[11] In September 1998, contracts were signed for production of 148 Tranche 1 aircraft and procurement of long lead-time items for Tranche 2 aircraft.[12] In March 2008, the final aircraft out of Tranche 1 was delivered to the German Air Force, with all successive deliveries being at the Tranche 2 standard or above.[13]

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.[14] The resulting aircraft first flew in 1996 and was brought to Italy during the following year; by this point, the aircraft was being marketed as the Yak/AEM-130.[15] In October 1998, it was reported that the venture was increasingly becoming an Italian-led effort due to a lack of Russian financial support.[16] By July 2000, Aermacchi held a 50% stake in the programme while Yakovlev and Sokol had a 25% share each.[17] 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.[18][19] 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.[18] The M-346 is a highly modified version of the aircraft that developed under the joint venture, using equipment exclusively from Western manufacturers.[19][17][20] The first M-346 prototype rolled out on 7 June 2003, and conducted its maiden flight on 15 July 2004.[21]

M-346 prototype 002 at Le Bourget airshow, 2005

In January 2005, the Greek Ministry of Defence signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to become a partner in the programme; an industrial cooperation agreement between Alenia and the Hellenic Aerospace Industry during the following year.[22] In March 2008, the Chilean ENAER signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Alenia at the FIDAE air show.[23] During May 2008, Boeing signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on the marketing, sales, training and support of two Aermacchi trainers, the M-346 and the M-311.[24] 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.[25] 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.[26]

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. In 1996, a program began on an improved G.222, designated C-27J; it used a U.S. military type designation based on the G.222's C-27A designation. 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 Super Hercules's Rolls-Royce AE 2100 engine and six-blade propeller.[27] Other changes include a fully digital MIL-STD-1553 systems and avionics architecture, and an updated cargo compartment for increased commonality.[28] The C-27J has a 35% increase in range and a 15% faster cruise speed than the G.222.[27] 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;[29] American aerospace company Boeing also joined GMAS.[30] During 2007, it was announced that the C-37J had been selected by the US Defense Department for its Joint Cargo Aircraft programme;[31] the C-27J team was awarded an initial contract worth US$2.04 billion for 78 C-27Js in June 2007.[32]

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