be induced into the Italian Air Force, which is roughly just under half of the total examples of the type to have been constructed to date. Various improved models would be developed by Aermacchi. During 1980, a dedicated single-seat attack variant, referred to as the MB-339K Veltro II, performed its maiden flight. During 1985, the MB-339B, which incorporated a light-attack capability, entered operational service. That same year, the first MB-339C, which featured various refinements and was intended as a dual-use aircraft, made its first flight. During the late 1980s, the enhanced MB-339C was made available to customers; this model principally differed from preceding variants via the implementation of a much-modernised cockpit. Early on, the Italian government chose to procure the MB-339CD; in addition to the fully digital cockpit, this variant was furnished with a fixed probe for aerial refueling, enabling its use for refueling training. During 1989, Aermacchi formed a partnership with American defense conglomerate Lockheed and the aircraft division of General Motors to jointly bid in the American Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) programme. The Italian-American team proposed a modified model of the MB-339, referred to as the T-Bird II, to contend for the competition. 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. 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. Throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, multiple tranches of the MB-339CD variant would be inducted into Italian service. Furthermore, various operators chose to have their existing aircraft remanufactured to the more advanced MB-339C standard. During the 2000s, the MB-339FD (FD standing for Full Digital), was proposed but ultimately attracted little market interest. 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. During the 1990s and 2000s, as a result of corporate mergers and restructuring, the MB-339 became only one of several training aircraft being offered by Aermacchi, other aircraft being propeller-driven SF-260, the basic S.211, M-311, and the M-346. According to company Giorgio Brazzelli, its various training platforms come together to form part of an