Overview
- Canada and Italy launched formal talks on Tuesday to negotiate a purchase of Leonardo M-346 advanced jet trainers for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
- Ottawa framed the step under its Build-Partner-Buy approach as a way to develop domestic training capacity by leveraging Italian aerospace expertise, but it released no numbers, price or schedule.
- Leonardo publicly welcomed the talks and a Canadian private school, the International Test Pilots School, has separately ordered six M-346s expected to enter service in 2029, which could complement any government fleet.
- The M-346 is already used by more than 20 countries and is presented as compatible with training pipelines for modern fighters such as the F-35 and Saab Gripen, and Canada has long sent pilots to Italy's IFTS rather than owning the type.
- The negotiations arrive while Ottawa continues to weigh whether to commit to more F-35s, add Gripen aircraft, or pursue a mixed fleet and officials say the eventual deal size and industrial terms will shape how Canada organizes pilot training and domestic aerospace work.