{"id":2243162,"date":"2026-06-18T09:37:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/canada-m346-trainer-negotiations-italy-g7-rcaf-fflit-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T10:16:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T08:16:36","slug":"canada-m346-trainer-negotiations-italy-g7-rcaf-fflit-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/canada-m346-trainer-negotiations-italy-g7-rcaf-fflit-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada Opens M-346 Trainer Talks With Italy at G7"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\n<p>Canada just made its biggest pilot-training move in years. On the sidelines of the G7 summit in \u00c9vian, France, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni formally launched negotiations for Canada to purchase Leonardo&#8217;s M-346 Master advanced jet trainer. The announcement, made on 16 June, ends months of speculation about which aircraft would fill the gaping hole left by the RCAF&#8217;s retired CT-155 Hawk fleet.<\/p>\n\n<p>The stakes are high: Canada currently has <em>zero<\/em> domestic advanced jet training capability. Since the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) programme wound down in 2024, Canadian fighter pilots have been training abroad \u2014 at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas and at the Italian Air Force&#8217;s International Flight Training School (IFTS) in Sardinia, where they already fly the M-346. In short, the RCAF already knows this jet, and that familiarity almost certainly tipped the scales.<\/p>\n\n<p>The deal falls under the Future Fighter Lead-In Training (FFLIT) programme, which is designed to prepare pilots for the transition to Canada&#8217;s incoming CF-35A Lightning II. With the F-35 fleet expected to reshape the RCAF&#8217;s combat wing, a modern lead-in trainer isn&#8217;t a luxury \u2014 it&#8217;s an operational necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 24px;border-radius:8px;margin:20px 0 28px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:18px\">Quick Facts<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px;line-height:1.8\">\n<li><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Leonardo M-346 Master \u2014 twin-engine advanced jet trainer<\/li>\n<li><strong>Programme:<\/strong> Future Fighter Lead-In Training (FFLIT)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Announced:<\/strong> 16 June 2026, at the G7 summit in \u00c9vian, France<\/li>\n<li><strong>Replaces:<\/strong> CT-155 Hawk, retired in 2024 after 24 years of RCAF service<\/li>\n<li><strong>Competitors beaten:<\/strong> Boeing\/Saab T-7A Red Hawk and KAI\/Lockheed Martin T-50<\/li>\n<li><strong>Related:<\/strong> ITPS Canada ordered M-346T Block 20 trainers in May 2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why the M-346?<\/h2>\n\n<p>The M-346 Master is no stranger to lead-in fighter training. Already operated by the air forces of Italy, Israel, Poland, Singapore, and several others, it offers a digital glass cockpit, an embedded tactical training system, and the kind of high-angle-of-attack agility that makes it a convincing surrogate for fourth- and fifth-generation fighters. Its twin Honeywell F124 engines also give it a safety margin that single-engine trainers can&#8217;t match \u2014 a detail that matters when you&#8217;re flying over Canadian winter.<\/p>\n\n<p>Canada had also received proposals from the Boeing\/Saab T-7A Red Hawk and the Korea Aerospace Industries\/Lockheed Martin T-50. But the RCAF&#8217;s existing experience on the M-346 at the IFTS in Sardinia gave Leonardo a significant head start. Pilots and instructors already know the cockpit, the flight model, and the mission systems. Switching to a different type would have meant rebuilding institutional knowledge from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f9f9f9;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-style:italic;line-height:1.6\">&#8220;Leveraging Italian expertise in aerospace and defence, this agreement will enable the Royal Canadian Air Force to train in state-of-the-art equipment and build sovereign training capability.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:0;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Office of Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:0;font-size:14px;color:#666\">Official statement on Canada-Italy M-346 negotiations, 16 June 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Adding momentum to Leonardo&#8217;s bid: the International Test Pilots School (ITPS) Canada ordered the M-346T Block 20 less than a month before the G7 announcement. The Block 20 is the latest production standard, featuring upgraded avionics and enhanced tactical training capabilities. That private-sector vote of confidence couldn&#8217;t have hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-opt-id=260607411  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:Ify5.c04c\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/bae-systems-hawk-ct-155-trainer-canada-retired.jpg\" alt=\"BAE Systems Hawk trainer aircraft, the type formerly operated by the RCAF as the CT-155 which was retired in 2024\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The CT-155 Hawk was retired in 2024 after 24 years of service, leaving Canada with no domestic advanced jet training capability.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Training Gap<\/h2>\n\n<p>Canada&#8217;s pilot training pipeline has been in rough shape. The CT-155 Hawk fleet, which entered service in 2000, was retired in 2024 without a replacement waiting in the wings. The NATO Flying Training in Canada programme, once a jewel in Allied pilot production, shut down the same year. Since then, Canadian fighter pilot candidates have been scattered across international programmes \u2014 a workable short-term fix, but a lousy long-term strategy for a nation acquiring 88 F-35s.<\/p>\n\n<p>The FFLIT programme is supposed to fix that. The idea is to rebuild a sovereign training pipeline on Canadian soil, one that can produce pilots ready to step into an F-35 cockpit. The M-346&#8217;s embedded simulation, data-link integration, and electronic warfare training capabilities make it a natural fit for that mission. Canadian officials have suggested the early 2030s as a rough target for the new trainer to enter service.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/x.com\/cbcwatcher\/status\/2066840410836619623\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f9f9f9;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-style:italic;line-height:1.6\">&#8220;This is Canada&#8217;s Defence Industrial Strategy in action, with the Build-Partner-Buy approach building at home and partnering with reliable allies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:0;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Government of Canada<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:0;font-size:14px;color:#666\">Defence policy statement on the FFLIT programme<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What Comes Next<\/h2>\n\n<p>The joint statement from Carney&#8217;s office was notably light on details. No quantity, no price tag, no delivery timeline. Those numbers will emerge during formal negotiations, which are expected to involve not just the aircraft but also the ground-based training systems, logistics support, and potentially a Canadian industrial participation package.<\/p>\n\n<p>For Leonardo, the deal would represent another major export win in a market the company has dominated in recent years. For the RCAF, it would mean the return of something it hasn&#8217;t had in two years: the ability to train its own fighter pilots at home.<\/p>\n\n<p>The M-346 won&#8217;t carry weapons in Canadian service \u2014 it&#8217;s a trainer, full stop. But in an era when the path to the cockpit determines the quality of the pilot who gets there, this might be one of the most consequential procurement decisions Canada makes this decade.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe hcb-fetch-image-from=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oZbpuUOYVpg\" title=\"M-346 Master jet trainer and light attack aircraft | Why is it so successful?\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oZbpuUOYVpg?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe hcb-fetch-image-from=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BT5EHUs3CG0\" title=\"We Fly Aboard The M-346 That Could Become The Navy&#039;s Next Jet Trainer\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BT5EHUs3CG0?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><em>Sources: Breaking Defense, Aviation Week, FlightGlobal, The Aviationist, Defence Industry Europe, Leonardo Press Release<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-avro-arrow-canadas-mach-2-dream-destroyed-by-politics\/\">The Avro Arrow: Canada&#8217;s Mach 2 Dream Destroyed by Politics<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/five-crashes-three-days-military-aviation-june-2026\/\">Five Crashes in Three Days: The Week That Shook Military Aviation<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/fcas-dead-germany-eyes-gcap-entry\/\">FCAS Dead, Germany Eyes GCAP Entry<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canada just made its biggest pilot-training move in years. On the sidelines of the G7 summit in \u00c9vian, France, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni formally launched negotiations for Canada to purchase Leonardo&#8217;s M-346 Master advanced jet trainer. The announcement, made on 16 June, ends months of speculation about which aircraft would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":2243036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2243162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Canada Opens M-346 Trainer Talks With Italy at G7 | MiGFlug.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At the G7 summit, Canada opened talks with Italy to acquire Leonardo&#039;s M-346 jet trainer\u2014its biggest pilot-training move in years.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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