The purchase of twelve Leonardo-M-346FA jets as successors for the decommissioned Saab 105OE has been finalized. Most recently, details for the purchase and industrial cooperation were negotiated in parallel, and now all contracts with Italy have been signed. The unit price is around 80 million euros. The entire package – including armament, ammunition, maintenance and training – adds up for the Austrian Armed Forces to around 1.5 billion euros.
With this procurement, the Austrian Armed Forces are realizing a goal that has been open for years: the two-fleet strategy can be fully implemented for the first time. It envisages Austria having two complementary systems – the Eurofighter for air surveillance and a second, lighter system for training, low-intensity missions and to relieve the high-value fleet. Until now, the second component has been missing. The M-346FA closes this gap.
This also means that pilot training is returning to Austria. Since the Saab 105 was phased out, the flying part of the training had to take place abroad – mainly in Italy and Germany. With the new jet, training can once again take place entirely in Austria. This increases availability, reduces costs in the long term and strengthens operational sovereignty.
“The purchase of twelve Leonardo M-346-FA has been completed,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner and Economics Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer: “This government-to-government deal brings more security and valuable industrial cooperation for Austria.” In addition to the purchase, an agreement for economic cooperation was also concluded with the Italians.
Industry cooperation agreements with a volume of 400 million euros
Industrial cooperation agreements with a volume of 400 million euros have also been agreed between Austria and Italy. These are to concern the areas of aviation technology, the supply industry, digitalization and security-related research. The agreement safeguards domestic security interests and is in line with the rules of the European single market, according to the statement.
Possible areas of cooperation include joint product development between Leonardo and Austrian high-tech companies, the involvement of domestic companies in maintenance, software, training and system integration as well as joint research projects in areas such as aviation, simulation, materials technology and sensor technology. Tanner and Hattmannsdorfer emphasized that taxpayers’ money should flow back to Austria in the form of added value. “Every euro of cooperation creates new investments and makes our location more resilient,” emphasized Hattmannsdorfer. This opens up a “new chapter of industrial cooperation between business, research and defense”.
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Procurement an important part of the “2032+ development plan”
“We have implemented what we announced,” says Tanner. The Leonardo jets would “significantly” strengthen the air force. The purchase not only serves to protect neutrality and the population, the two-seater jets can also be used as training equipment, which was an “important criterion” for this procurement, emphasized Tanner. They are also an “important part of the ‘2032+ reconstruction plan'”. This will continue to be worked through “step by step with the necessary consistency”, said the Defense Minister. The new Leonardo jets are due to land in Austria from 2028.
