Africa’s most populous nation just received the first jet of a fleet that will reshape its air force. The Nigerian Air Force has formally rolled out its first Leonardo M-346FA — a light fighter built in Italy that combines the agility of an advanced trainer with the bite of a multi-role combat aircraft. Nigeria ordered 24 of them. The first now wears a complete Nigerian Air Force livery, ready for operational flying.

It is the largest M-346FA export deal Leonardo has signed, and it puts a modern, networked combat jet — capable of carrying laser-guided bombs, AIM-9 Sidewinders, and targeting pods — into the hands of an air force that has spent two decades fighting Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents with light turboprops and ageing Alpha Jets.

A Trainer with Teeth

The M-346 began life as the Aermacchi-designed advanced trainer — a transonic jet good enough to teach the next generation of fast-jet pilots how to fly fourth- and fifth-generation fighters. The “FA” variant takes the same airframe and bolts on a tactical radar, a self-defence suite, and seven hardpoints capable of carrying air-to-ground and air-to-air ordnance.

It is not a Rafale or a Gripen — it cannot dogfight an F-16 — but it does not have to. In counter-insurgency, in close-air support, in border patrol, the M-346FA is exactly the right tool: fast enough to respond, smart enough to hit precisely, cheap enough to operate at scale.

Why It Matters for Nigeria

Nigeria’s air war against Boko Haram and ISWAP has been fought largely with Super Tucano turboprops and the ageing Alpha Jet — a 1970s Franco-German design that no longer matches the operational tempo demanded by the insurgency. The M-346FA leaps Nigeria forward two generations: precision weapons, modern sensors, secure datalink, and the ability to integrate with ISR drones already in service.

It also matters geopolitically. Nigeria buying European combat jets in volume rather than Chinese or Russian alternatives signals a quiet realignment in West African airpower procurement.

The Wider M-346FA Order Book

Leonardo is now exporting the M-346FA seriously. Beyond Nigeria, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan operate the type. Italy itself is acquiring a small fleet. The combined order book is now well over 70 aircraft — making the M-346FA one of the most successful European light-combat jets of the decade.

Nigeria’s first one is painted, signed off, and ready to fly. The other 23 are coming.

Sources: The Aviationist, Leonardo press release, Janes.