Indiafoxtecho finishing up work on its newest airplane, the Aermacchi M-346

It’s been a while since we’ve got a detailed development update about Indiafoxtecho‘s ongoing projects for Microsoft Flight Simulator. After the release of the Su-31 and the announcement of the Panavia Tornado, the developer has finally provided some new details about the M-346 Master, an aircraft that has been in development for MSFS for a while. The good news? It’s now in beta and a release is expected after Sim Update 10!

Indiafoxtecho first hinted at the development of the M-346 for MSFS almost two years ago. Since then, the developer has focused on other projects, like the F-35 Lightning II or the aforementioned Su-31, but now it seems it’s time for the M-346 to shine.

The M-346 Master from Indiafoxtecho is now in Beta stage, with real-world pilots, instructors and engineers providing helpful feedback to the development team about some aspects that can be improved in the product. Indiafoxtecho notes that there are a few dozen change requests that came from the beta testing team, but most of them are minor details.

Indiafoxtecho M 346 MSFS previews 6

Indiafoxtecho M 346 MSFS previews 5

Indiafoxtecho M 346 MSFS previews 4

In the end, the developer seems quite confident that the M-346 will be a fairly realistic experience in MSFS. Thanks to the help of aircrews familiar with the airplane, Indiafoxtecho says that users should be able to follow “at least 95% of the real-world checklist“, although it’s noted that some systems will not be simulated in great detail.

At this moment, the developer expects this testing phase to last for a couple more weeks, which should also be the time Asobo and Microsoft need to put out Sim Update 10. Indiafoxtecho says their plan is to release the M-346 soon after SU10 is deployed, so we’re definitely looking at a release in September.

The M-346 is planned to launch first on PC, but a slightly toned-down version for Xbox is possible at a later stage, just like Indiafoxtecho did with the F-35. Some complex avionics and high-resolution textures prevent a release on the consoles from the start. Considering that Asobo and Microsoft are on the verge of finally fixing the issues third-party developers have had with WASM gauges and the Xbox, it’s likely that some of the burdens of making these airplanes available on the consoles may be about to be lifted.

Indiafoxtecho M 346 MSFS previews 1

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Indiafoxtecho M 346 MSFS previews 2

Finally, the M-346 will come to MSFS with at least 10 liveries, which mostly represent real-world operators of the jet trainer. More may be included, but for now these are the planned ones:

  • Italian Air Force
  • Italian Air Force special color
  • Singapore Air Force
  • Singapore Air Force special color
  • Polish Air Force
  • Israeli Air Force
  • Turkmen Air Force
  • Factory Primer
  • Factory FA camo
  • International Flight School

We also have a nice selection of preview images of the M-346, which definitely look very good. We’re used to seeing some nicely detailed airplanes from Indiafoxtecho, certainly among the best military birds available in the Simulator. The M-346 Master appears to be following the same quality levels set by the M-339, the T-45C, or the F-35, so we can’t wait to try it out in MSFS. It shouldn’t take too long now!