More Than a Jet: The Beechcraft M-346N as an Anchor of 21st Century Pilot Training
Recently, Textron Aviation Defense announced its offering of the Beechcraft M-346N jet as a ready-now solution from for the U.S. Navy Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS) program.
This news could be viewed as merely an aircraft- based announcement, namely bringing Leonardo’s very successful M-346 platform to the United States. But this plane is part of an entire ecosystem of training pilots from the beginning to operate in today’s and tomorrow’s joint operational environment.
As the Air Commander Australia, Air Vice Marshal Braz noted in an interview I did with him in his office in Canberra in May 2025, early entry training for pilots is not simply about learning a platform but becoming able to operate within a broader combat ecosystem or kill web. The training challenge becomes particularly acute when considering how rapidly modern air combat systems evolve. Integration is a dynamic process that changes as new capabilities are added, and software upgrades arrive for platforms within the air combat system.
“This is not about me being the best F/A-18F pilot I can be,” Braz explains. “It’s about me being a contributor to an ecosystem that is a vast team that generates effects chains across the battle space.” This mindset shift represents perhaps the most significant challenge facing modern air force training systems.
What you see when you see a picture of the M-346N is not only a jet, but just one key element of an entire innovative training ecosystem designed to deliver the result which Braz underscored as necessary for today’s and tomorrow’s combat pilots.
The M-346 is a proven training platform and is being used by many air forces, including the Israelis and the Italians, but has been and is evolving over time to become an ever more effective node in an LVC network of combat training.
And with regard to the M-346 this is not just some analytical claim based on a few test flights and some computer projections. One can go to the International Flight Training School and see this reality of a plane at the center of an entire training ecosystem designed for the pilot of today and laying the continuous foundation for tomorrow.
When I was in Rome last Fall, I talked with the Italian Air Force officer in charge of the IFTS, BGen Edi TURCO, Chief of Staff of the Air Education Training Command / 3rd Air Region, and Head of the International Flight Training School (IFTS) Program Office. He underscored how the M-346 was part of this training ecosystem built around real-world operations in 4th and 5th generation aircraft and integrated LVC to prepare students for the dynamic world of 21st century combat.
The Italians have created a cutting-edge training center looking beyond flight control muscle memory training to shaping pilots who can think and operate in the changing multi-domain combat environment. It is a very international program with pilots from several nations, including from Asia. Students have come from twelve counties, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, Austria, Netherlands, Hungary and Spain and will soon attend from the U.S.
Because the training facility is in Sardinia, the combination of live training and ability to operate over water, land and in air-to-air engagements means that the training center pushes the envelope on advanced training. They are clearly positioned to work with the world of unmanned and autonomous systems airborne, land-based or sea based in shaping the 360 capabilities of what I originally labeled the emergence of the three-dimensional warrior.
This means that when you look at the M-346 and now the M-346N, you are looking at a jet already proven to train 21st century air combat warriors within a dynamically changing training ecosystem.
It is not just about the plane, but then again it is. For the M-346N is enmeshed into a dynamic approach to training and its block upgrades are a key part of this process.
Textron Aviation Defense is partnering not just in building a jet but in an enterprise which will blend its strong historical record and experience in training with evolving proven approaches to enable the Naval Aviator of the future to be trained today.
Textron Aviation Defense Announces its New Trainer Plane: The Beechcraft M-346N
Training on Display at the Paris Air Show 2025: The M-346 and International Flight Training School
The August 2025 Hook 25 Conference: Textron Aviation Defense Providing an Initial M-346N Experience