LEONARDO WELCOMES POLISH BIELIK M-346

Leonardo welcomes Polish Bielik M-346.

Warsaw, 28th November 2018 - Leonardo is proud to welcome the Polish Bielik trainer to the M-346 family. "Fly across Poland and laud the Polish pilot’s name, bring glory to the Republic of Poland - I name you Bielik." With those words, the Polish First Lady solemnly christened the M-346, which serves in the Polish Air Force. The ceremony, which took place in the 4th Training Aviation Wing in Dęblin on 24th November, was attended by President Andrzej Duda, the Superior of the Polish Armed Forces and representatives of the Polish Air Forces, National Security Bureau and Leonardo.

Congratulating Polish aviators on the implementation of the new pilot training system based on the M-346 Master aircraft, President Andrzej Duda said: “This was a gigantic operation that completely changed the face of the Eaglets School both in terms of infrastructure and training. It will lead to a change of the face of Polish aviation.” 

In his speech, President Andrzej Duda emphasized that Polish aviation has received the world’s most advanced training system. He expressed hope that Poland would soon host another batch of these aircraft to create a training squadron in Dęblinthat would serve more than Polish aviation. President Andrzej Duda also added that the Bielik is a “revolution in the training of Polish combat aircraft pilots.” 

Marco Lupo, Vice President Leonardo for Balkans and Eastern Europe, Head of the Leonardo Corporate Office in Warsaw said: “We are particularly proud that the Polish Air Force entrusted Leonardo with the mission of co-developing an advanced fighter pilot training program based on the M-346 aircraft. It is with great satisfaction that we participated in the christening ceremony which named the M-346 planes Bielikand we remain very hopeful that newBieliks will soon join the Polish Air Force, building the core of advanced pilot training system.”

With heritage and expertise in military pilot training, Leonardo’s M-346 is the most advanced jet trainer aircraft available on the market and the only one specifically designed to prepare pilots to fly next generation aircraft. The M-346 is in service with the air forces of Italy, Singapore, Israel and Poland. Thanks to the capabilities of the M-346 platform including the Embedded Tactical Training Simulation and its advanced Ground Based Training System, Leonardo’s M-346 Integrated Training System guarantees a significant reduction in cost to qualify an Air Force Cadet as combat ready on a latest generation fighter.

Source, Images: Leonardo