WARSAW, Poland — The Polish Ministry of Defence plans to order up to eight M-346 Master jet trainers from Italy’s Leonardo to provide the Polish Air Force with sufficient training capacities.
“We expect to complete the negotiations and sign an agreement by the end of March,” Col. Waldemar Boguslawski, the deputy head of the ministry’s Armament Inspectorate, told Polish lawmakers Feb. 27. The information on the program was presented by ministry and military officials at a meeting of the parliament’s National Defence Committee.
The potential procurement could double Poland’s fleet of M-346s.
In February 2014, Poland signed a contract worth 1.167 billion zloty (U.S. $341 million), excluding the value-added tax, to purchase eight jet trainers along with related logistical support, a training program for pilots and engineers, and a ground-based training system.
Deliveries of the eight aircraft were initially scheduled to be completed by November 2017, but last March, the ministry announced that the delivered aircraft are unable to simulate certain weapons’ effects.
Under a revised schedule, deliveries and training activities for the Polish military are to be completed on the turn of the third and fourth quarter of this year, according to Boguslawski.
Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.
