The Aerfer ''Ariete'' (
Italian for ''Ram'' or ''Aries'') was a prototype
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...
built in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
in 1958. It was a refined derivative of the
Aerfer Sagittario 2
The Aerfer Sagittario 2 (Italian language, Italian for ''sagittarius (constellation), sagittarius'') was a prototype all-metal single-seat lightweight fighter aircraft built in Italy by Aerfer, intended to serve as an interceptor or light tactic ...
, and was an attempt to bring that aircraft up to a standard where it could be mass-produced as a viable combat aircraft.
Retaining most of the Sagittario 2's layout with a nose intake and ventral exhaust for the main
Derwent engine, the Ariete added a
Rolls-Royce Soar RS.2 auxiliary turbojet engine to provide additional power for climbing and sprinting. This used a dorsal, retractable intake with its exhaust at the tail.
No production ensued; a proposed version with a
de Havilland Spectre rocket engine instead of the auxiliary turbojet, the Aerfer Leone (''Lion'' or ''Leo''), was abandoned before a prototype could be built.
Operators
;
*
Italian Air Force operated two aircraft for evaluation test
Specifications (Ariete)
See also
References
Bibliography
* Buttler, Tony. ''X-Planes of Europe II: Military Prototype Aircraft from the Golden Age 1946–1974''. Manchester, UK: Hikoki Publications, 2015.
* Swanborough, Gordon. ''Air Enthusiast, Volume One''. London: Pilot Press, 1971. .
{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation
Ariete
Abandoned military aircraft projects of Italy
1950s Italian fighter aircraft
Twinjets
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1958
Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear
Aircraft with auxiliary jet engines