SIAI S-211 "PHILIPINE AF"

The SIAI-Marchetti S.211 is a modern Italian jet trainer and fighter attack aircraft in a low wing configuration. The drive is provided by a single motor Pratt and Whitney Canada JT15D-4C . The prototype flight took place in 1981. Serial production continued in the period 1983-1987, ending with the production of 60 machines of this type. The aircraft is armed with a load of up to 660 kg of bombs or rockets. The S.211 aircraft was created as a grassroots initiative of the SIAI-Marchetti plant, which in the late 1970s decided to create a lightweight training and training machine with jet propulsion, intended primarily for the export market. After several years of testing, a successful machine was created. The S.211 is characterized primarily by a low curb weight due to the wide use of composites in its production, moreover, it is a machine with a simple structure, little failure, very economical in operation, ensuring high flight comfort and its considerable safety. The machine also shows good piloting properties and good performance for a machine of this class. Advantages led to the purchase of the S.211 by the Philippines, Haiti and Singapore. In the course of serial production, one development version was created: the S.211A, which was a reconnaissance and assault machine, but it never entered mass production. Based on the S.211 design, the S.311 aircraft was also created, which has been in production since 2004.