Qatari pilots enter final phase of LIFT training with International Flight Training School

The Qatar Emiri Air Force pilots have now completed the synthetic training modules both on the Partial Task Trainer (PTT) and the Full Mission Simulator (FMS) – two of the ultra-technological simulator devices integrated into the T-346A training system.

Qatari pilots began training at the IFTS in June 2021, following a November 2020 agreement signed by Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, and Italy’s minister of defence Lorenzo Guerini.

Leonardo and the Italian Air Force together launched the International Flight Training School (IFTS) in 2021, with an eye on the expanding Middle East military pilot training market, and following the success of an earlier Italian/Kuwaiti training initiative which saw Kuwaiti pilots being trained on the Leonardo T-346A (M346 Master) with the AMI’s (Aeronautica Militare Italiana, Italian air force) 61^st Stormo at Lecce-Galatina. The first seven Kuwaiti Typhoon pilots graduated from their AMI flying training courses on 5 July 2020. 

The IFTS is closely based on Italian Air Force flight training practises, and leveraging Leonardo’s expertise in delivering proven integrated training solutions. The IFTS will use the same basic ground-based training systems (GBTS) as was used by the 61^st Stormo, with a real-time monitoring system (RTMS) linked up to full mission simulators (FMS), flight-training devices (FTD) and a mission planning/debriefing system (MPDS), as well as the instructor operating station (IOS) which is used to inject different scenarios into training flights. The GBTS can connect everyone working on the ground with airborne M346s (and later M345s) via the live virtual constructive (LVC) and embedded tactical training system (ETTS) networks.

The Live Virtual Constructive concept is one in which ‘Live’ aircraft (in flight) are linked with ‘Virtual’ aircraft (being flown in ground-based simulators) and ‘Constructive’ aircraft (being ‘flown’ in a computer-generated operating scenario).

The IFTS will operate a fleet of 22 M346 aircraft - 18 Italian Air Force T-346As and four Leonardo-owned aircraft. Training will be delivered by a cadre of active-duty Italian Air Force and highly experienced former international military instructor pilots. The school began by offering Phase IV (Advanced/Lead-In Fighter) Training and will expand into Phase II/III training as the new Leonardo T-345 lightweight trainer starts to replace the elderly MB339s at Lecce-Galatina. The T-346s will move to Decimomannu air base on the island of Sardinia, where a groundbreaking ceremony was held in December 2020 to mark the start of construction for a new flight training campus.