the Aermacchi M-346

Lets talk about this advance trainer..
in terms of performance specs.. it should perform better than all other subsonic advance trainers, yet in terms of maximum speed and perhaps certain avionics.. is inferior to the new supersonic trainers (the Golden Eagle and the proposed MAKO)..

Aermacchi split off from Yakovlev and continued the product on their own, the resulting aircraft, the M-346 differs quite a bit from the Yak 130..

for one thing..the air frame is 10-15% lighter, the Sokol engines was replaced with Honeywell engines, alowing the aircraft to reach up to speeds of 650+ km..

it is most likely designed to meet the trainer requirements for the Eurofighter and Rafale.