Vienna is also considering the purchase of up to 18 advanced trainer aircraft, probably Leonardo’s M346 or Aero’s LG-39NG
The Austrian Federal Armed Forces plan to spend €1.600 billion on modernising its aircraft fleet. The plan includes on the one hand the purchase of 18 new advanced training aircraft and also the upgrade of its 15 Eurofighter fighter jets, the Tranche 1 (the oldest variant of the model), which until recently Vienna tried to get rid of.
The first focuses will be on obtaining a night combat capability, which implies at least the implementation of night vision or, at most, the mounting of reconnaissance sensors on a pod under the wing. Another upgrade contemplates the improvement of the self-protection capacity of the devices through sensors that warn the pilot that the fighter has been detected by a radar and through the automatic launch of decoys before the proximity of a missile.
The last upgrade will comprise addition of medium-range air-to-air missiles Amraam or long-range Meteor, superior (longer range) than the current Iris-T, short-range, mounted by these devices.
As for the purchase of new aircraft, the project includes the acquisition of up to 18 subsonic devices, whose model is expected to be decided next summer. The newspaper highlights at this point the possibilities of the M346 of the Italian company Leonardo, equipped with capacity for air-to-ground combat.