Alenia Aermacchi recently signed two important contracts with the United Arab Emirates for the conversion of ten MB-339A aircraft to the acrobatic configuration, also designed National Acrobatic Team (NAT).
The agreement provides for an initial conversion of six aircraft already in service with the UAE Air Force, followed by the procurement and transformation of the remaining four aircraft.

The upgrade mainly involves the removal of the wing-tip fuel tanks, changes to the fuel systems, installation of a smoke generation system to produce the UAE national flag colors: white, red, green and black.