Indonesia orders 12 Leonardo M-346F Block 20 light fighters from Italy for advanced training.

On July 21, 2026, Leonardo, PT ESystem Solutions, and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia signed a contract at the Farnborough International Airshow for 12 M-346F Block 20 light combat aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2030. The procurement agreement converts a February 2026 Letter of Intent into a binding program to replace the Indonesian Air Force's aging BAE Systems Hawk Mk 109 and Mk 209 fleet. The aircraft will establish an intermediate Lead-In Fighter Training platform between basic jet instruction and high-performance operational conversion for frontline fleets like the F-16 and Rafale.

The contract covers 12 M-346F Block 20 jets powered by twin Honeywell F124-GA-200 turbofans and equipped with an Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, Link 16 datalink, Large Area Displays, and integrated electronic warfare systems. The platform combines a 2,000 kg payload capacity across seven hardpoints with a Ground-Based Training System and Live, Virtual, Constructive networking architecture for advanced tactical pilot instruction and low-threat combat missions.

Related topic: Indonesia moves toward M-346F Block 20 jet deal with Italy after F-15EX plan collapses

The Block 20 upgrade transforms the M-346F into a digitally networked light combat aircraft with a modern fighter cockpit, AESA radar, Link 16, and more realistic embedded training, bringing pilot instruction much closer to fighter jets. (Picture source: Leonardo)

On July 21, 2026, Leonardo, PT ESystem Solutions Indonesia and the Indonesian Ministry of Defence signed a contract at the Farnborough International Airshow for 12 M-346F Block 20 aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2030. The agreement converts the Letter of Intent signed at the Singapore Airshow on February 4, 2026, into a procurement programme covering aircraft, training, support, maintenance, overhaul and the development of Indonesian personnel and infrastructure. Indonesia will become the 23rd user of the M-346 family and the first Asian customer for the Block 20 combat configuration, primarily to replace the Indonesian Air Force’s remaining Hawk Mk 109 trainers and Hawk Mk 209 light attack aircraft. This will also create a new training stage between basic jet instruction and conversion to fighters such as the F-16 and Rafale.

The M-346F will therefore not enter service as a direct substitute for the cancelled F-15EX acquisition or as a lower-cost alternative to a full-size multirole fighter. It will occupy a narrower position in the force structure: advanced and tactical training, operational conversion, air policing, low-threat attack, reconnaissance and selected maritime support missions. Indonesia’s M-346 purchase is shaped by the age and divided functions of its Hawk fleet. The two-seat Hawk Mk 109 has been used for training, while the single-seat Hawk Mk 209 has provided light attack and secondary air defense capacity, requiring Indonesia to replace both an instructional aircraft and an operational asset.

A 12-aircraft M-346F fleet is large enough to form one squadron or training unit, but it will not place 12 aircraft on the flight line every day. If two aircraft are undergoing scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, one is assigned to instructor qualification and another is retained as an operational reserve, only eight may be available for student training, tactical sorties, and exercises. Indonesia will consequently have to prioritize pilot production over routine operational tasking if it intends to use the M-346F as the main Lead-In Fighter Training platform for several frontline fleets. The four-year interval before the first delivery is therefore necessary to train instructor pilots and maintainers, construct simulator and mission-planning facilities, establish spare-parts stocks and qualify personnel to support the radar, electronic warfare equipment, digital cockpit and synthetic training network. 

The M-346F Block 20 is an advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft powered by two Honeywell F124-GA-200 turbofans, each producing approximately 28 kN of thrust, for a combined output of about 56 kN. The engines do not use afterburners, limiting maximum speed and acceleration compared with the F-16, Rafale or T-50i, but reducing fuel consumption and mechanical complexity during routine training. Maximum speed is approximately 1,065 km/h at low altitude, while the service ceiling is 13,715 m, or 45,000 ft. Ferry range reaches about 2,220 km with three external fuel tanks, which permits movement between several Indonesian islands without transport aircraft support but does not represent an armed combat radius; once external weapons, fuel reserves, climb, manoeuvring and time on station are included, the practical radius would be substantially shorter.

The Italian aircraft also uses a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire flight-control system and can maintain controlled flight above 30 degrees angle of attack, allowing students to practise high-angle-of-attack manoeuvring without moving directly to a more expensive operational fighter. Adjustable angle-of-attack and g limits allow instructors to progressively expand the flight envelope or reproduce some handling restrictions associated with other aircraft types. The combat version of the M-346 has seven external stations, including two wingtip rails, and can carry more than 2,000 kg of weapons, sensors, electronic warfare equipment or external fuel.

Earlier M-346 fighter configurations have been seen with AIM-9 Sidewinder and IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missiles, laser-guided bombs, general-purpose bombs, rockets, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship weapons, targeting pods, reconnaissance pods, 12.7 mm and 20 mm gun pods and electronic countermeasure pods. A typical air policing configuration could include two short-range air-to-air missiles and one or more external fuel tanks, while a strike configuration would probably require a targeting pod, two guided bombs and self-protection equipment, rapidly using most of the available stations and payload. The aircraft can be fitted with a removable in-flight refuelling probe, improving endurance for training, ferry flights and maritime missions, but it remains constrained by its small internal fuel volume and light payload.

These limits make the M-346F suitable for interception of slow or non-manoeuvring aircraft, armed reconnaissance, close air support and attack in permissive airspace. They make it less suitable for rapid long-range interception, heavy strike or missions inside an integrated air defense system equipped with modern fighters and medium- or long-range surface-to-air missiles. The Block 20 upgrade concentrates most of its changes in the cockpit, avionics and mission systems. Each seat receives a 20 × 8 inch Large Area Display, replacing the previous arrangement of three multifunction displays per cockpit and reducing six separate screens to two large interfaces across the aircraft. Both cockpits also receive low-profile Head-Up Displays, allowing the instructor in the rear seat to retain a flight and tactical presentation comparable to that of the front-seat pilot.

A new digital video and data recorder supports post-flight reconstruction of pilot actions, sensor use and weapon-employment decisions. The new Helmet Mounted Display is intended to present navigation, targeting and tactical information without requiring the pilot to look down at the main display, while also supporting augmented reality training. The Block 20 also incorporates updated navigation, flight management, weapon management and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) functions. Required Navigation Performance and Area Navigation capability are relevant for operations through controlled civilian airspace and for approaches to dispersed airfields, while ADS-B Out improves compatibility with modern air traffic management systems. The M-346F Block 20 also adds an AESA fire control radar, Link 16, electronic countermeasures and a built-in missile datalink.

The AESA radar replaces the mechanically scanned Grifo-M346 of the earlier M-346FA, while Link 16 gives the aircraft access to tactical information from ground radars, command centers and compatible aircraft, allowing it to receive tracks without relying only on its own radar. That capability would be particularly useful for air policing and maritime surveillance support, where the M-346F could be directed toward a target by a ground-based sensor and activate its radar later in the interception. The missile datalink could support weapons requiring mid-course updates, although no compatible beyond-visual-range missile has been identified for Indonesia. Electronic countermeasures and defensive aids improve warning and survivability, but the specific radar-warning receivers, missile warning sensors, jammers and expendable countermeasures included in the contract remain unspecified.

Speaking of which, the aircraft’s Embedded Tactical Training System (ETTS) allows simulated radar contacts, missiles, targeting pods, electronic warfare effects, ground threats and friendly or hostile aircraft to be inserted into a real sortie without physically deploying every participating asset. A pilot flying over Indonesia can therefore practise identifying and engaging several computer-generated aircraft even when only one or two M-346s are airborne. The system can also simulate weapon launch, missile flight and target effects without expending a live missile or guided bomb. The Ground Based Training System extends this architecture to full-mission simulators, flight-training devices, mission planning stations, debriefing facilities, classroom instruction and training management software. Live, Virtual and Constructive networking can connect an aircraft in flight with pilots in simulators and computer-generated forces within the same tactical scenario.

For example, two live aircraft could operate with four simulated wingmen against multiple virtual adversaries and ground-based air defenses, creating a mission involving more than a dozen entities without launching an equivalent number of aircraft. This matters for Indonesia because its combat fleet is divided among F-16s, Su-27s, Su-30s, T-50is and Rafales, all of which have different operating costs, maintenance cycles and availability constraints. Moving radar management, datalink, threat reaction and basic weapons employment training onto the M-346F reduces the need to use limited frontline fighter hours for tasks that do not require frontline performance. Localized sustainment will be essential because Indonesia is adding the M-346F to an already fragmented aviation inventory.

The Indonesian Air Force operates approximately 33 F-16s, 11 Su-30MK2s, five Su-27SKMs, T-50i trainers and light fighters, EMB-314 Super Tucanos and Hawks, while the first three Rafales arrived in January 2026. Each aircraft uses different engines, ground equipment, software, weapons, maintenance procedures and supply chains. The M-346F introduces the Honeywell F124 engine, a Leonardo avionics architecture, a new AESA radar, new simulators and another set of electronic warfare and mission-data requirements. PT ESystem Solutions will serve as the Indonesian industrial partner for local maintenance, overhaul, training and workforce development. To make that arrangement operationally meaningful, Indonesia will need more than hangars and line-maintenance technicians.

It will require engine test equipment, avionics benches, radar calibration tools, secure software facilities, mission-data support, spare engines, replacement radar components, simulator technicians and a supply system able to forecast component demand over several years. Routine inspections and replacement of line-replaceable units may be transferred relatively quickly, but deeper engine overhaul, radar repair, electronic warfare updates and integration of new weapons could take much more time. But with those elements in place, the M-346F Block 20 could remove a substantial portion of the training burden from Indonesia’s more expensive fighters while retaining enough combat capability to replace the operational functions still performed by the Hawk.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.

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