Carrying out studies on replace its Soviet-style vehicles with Western systems, Azerbaijan has announced a new platform to replace the advanced jet traininer in its inventory.

Baku will replace the L-39 Albatros advanced jet trainer, which have been in service for many years, with Leonardo M-346s. Within the scope of the procurement process announced by President Heydar Aliyev, number of M-346s to acquire, supply schedule and costs were not specified.

In May 2017, Leonardo introduced the M-346 aircraft to the Azerbaijani senior officials. After the event, in July 2019, the company announced that six orders were received from an international “customer”, for the M-346FA, which is the platform's fighter/attack model. The M-346FAs, have three weapon stations under the wing and one under the centerline fuselage, can carry a variety of smart and / or conventional free-fall ammunition as well as a gun pod.