Leonardo will conduct the first demonstration flight later this year pairing its M-346 platform with a pair of representative collaborative combat aircraft.
“In mid-’26 we are going to demonstrate the first ‘Case War’,” chief executive Roberto Cingolani revealed while presenting the company’s 2026-2030 industrial plan in Rome on 12 March.
“We will make a flight with a mother aircraft – our M-346 light-attack fighter – commanding two unmanned fighters, jointly produced with our colleagues at Baykar [Technologies],” Cingonali says. “They will be operated directly by the mother aircraft,” he adds.
“The first test will be done in secret, around April-May, and then we want to go public.”
Leonardo is partnered with the Turkish company via their LBA Systems joint venture, which covers activities including the future production of Kizilelma uncrewed fighters in Grottaglie, Italy.
While Cingolani did not name the type to be employed alongside the M-346, the single-engined Kizilelma – a type which late last year achieved its first test engagement using a beyond-visual-range air-to-air – would be the natural choice.
“While we wait for the [future] sixth-generation fighter, you can already provide to customers adjuncts that can be operated in conjunction with existing aircraft,” Cingolani notes.
While pointing to growing interest in the M-346 as a light fighter, most recently illustrated by a late-2025, 12-unit order from Austria, he notes: “as a trainer, it seems to be unbeatable”. The type is also being offered to the US Navy with Textron Aviation Defense, as the Beechcraft M-346N.
Meanwhile, asked about the company’s ambition to sell the M-346 advanced jet trainer to the UK, Cingolani tells FlightGlobal: “I would be super-happy, but it seems to me that at the moment there are other priorities. If there would be an opportunity, I will be there immediately.”
Leonardo early this month secured a long-awaited £1 billion ($1.3 billion) contract to produce 23 AW149s at its Yeovil site in Somerset to meet the UK’s New Medium Helicopter requirement.
The UK also has yet to clear its next batch of funding for the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), through which it is jointly developing a sixth-generation fighter with Italy and Japan. That approval should have been made at the end of 2025, but has been tied up amid London’s delayed Defence Investment Plan process.
Asked whether he believes the GCAP structure could accommodate Germany – which has a troubled relationship with France over their Future Combat Air System programme – Cingolani says: “My personal position is that I would be very open to new partners. Sixth-generation fighter technology is a sort of ‘trip to the moon’ effort, so having more partners is perfect. But of course, this is only a political decision.”
