Conceived in the early 1970s as an Italian air force trainer, the Aermacchi MB 339 maintained operational capabilities as a ground attack fighter. The MB 339 reached a maximum speed of 508 mph or 553 mph based on version and could carry up to 4,000 pounds of external load including machine gun-pods, rockets, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles and/or bombs. There were at least nine versions of the aircraft, all of which featured two 30 mm DEFA 553 cannons.