During September 1972, Aermacchi was awarded a contract to study a replacement for the Italian Air Force's aging MB-326 fleet, a type which had effectively been the standard advanced jet trainer of the 1960s.

[3] It was determined that the envisioned MB-339 would be capable to satisfying the established requirements of the Italian Air Force, while also being cheaper than producing any of the rival clean-sheet designs.

If successful, Lockheed would have acted as the prime contractor and system integrator, assembling the T-Bird II at its Marietta facility, while General Motors was to provide its computerised training experience.

[2] However, the bid was ultimately not successful; instead, a rival turboprop-powered submission by Raytheon and Pilatus was awarded the contract to produce the T-6 Texan II for this requirement.

[2] During 2006, it was announced that the MB-339 assembly line, which had been shuttered for several years, would be revived in response to interest in further orders of the type being expressed by three separate customers.

[14] The Aermacchi MB-339 is a military jet trainer and light attack aircraft, featuring a conventional configuration, tricycle undercarriage and all-metal construction.

[15] According to aviation periodical Air International, the most significant revision of the MB-339 was a redesigned forward fuselage, which raised the instructor's seat to allow visibility over and past the student pilot's head.

Combat-orientated aircraft are typically outfitted with more advanced avionics, such as improved inertial guidance systems, digital nav/attack computers, a MIL-STD-1553B databus, and hands-on throttle-and-stick (HOTAS)-compatible flight controls.

[2] Furthermore, various defensive systems, such as a radio jammer, radar warning receiver (RWR), electronic countermeasures (ECM), along with larger wingtip tanks, would typically be adopted.

The MB-339K carries a pair of 30mm DEFA cannon while a total of six underwing hard points can accommodate up to 1,815 kilograms (4,000 lb) of external stores.

The service, which received its first examples during 1978, has procured multiple batches and models of the type over the years; for several decades, it has been flown as its principal trainer aircraft.

[19] Many of its operators, such as the Royal New Zealand Air Force, chose to procure the type during the 1980s and 1990s as a replacement for various aging jet-powered attack aircraft, such as the British-built BAC Strikemaster.

[20] According to a report by Forecast International published in 2014, the later-built MB-339CD model has remained viable as a training platform for various newer fighter aircraft, such as the Panavia Tornado and the Eurofighter Typhoon; however, the type's appeal is waning and shall largely be confined after the 2010s to those nations with weaker economies or facing little military pressure.

[21] During the Falklands War, late in April 1982, six of them were located at Port Stanley Airport, renamed Base Aérea Militar (BAM) Malvinas.

[22] Other Aermacchis were operated from three mainland bases, these being Almirante Zar, Bahía Blanca, and Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego naval air stations.

[citation needed] Their initial deployment occurred on 5 June 1998, the same day in which the Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) also started its operations.

[citation needed] On the morning of 12 June 1998, a pair of Eritrean Mil Mi-8 appeared in low level over Addis Pharmaceutical works, in Adigrat, attempting to bomb it.