Aermacchi
Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Italian military. With a factory located on the shores of Lake Varese, the firm originally manufactured a series of Nieuport designs, as well as seaplanes. After World War II, the company began producing motorcycles as a way to fill the post-war need for cheap, efficient transportation. The company later specialised in civil and military pilot training aircraft. In July 2003, Aermacchi was integrated into the Finmeccanica Group (now Leonardo) as Alenia Aermacchi, which increased its shareholding to 99%. Military trainers Since the beginning, the design and production of military trainers have been the core business of Alenia Aermacchi. The products include: SF-260, piston-engined or turboprop-powered screener/primary trainer MB-326, turbofan engined trainer and light attack aircraft M-311, basic turbofan trainer MB-339CD, advanced and lead-in fighter trainer M-346, advanced and lead-in fighter trainer of the new generation Military collaboration Alenia Aermacchi has cooperated in international military programs: AMX program: Alenia Aermacchi takes part in the AMX program with Alenia Aeronautica and Embraer of Brazil with a total