The AUT.18 was a

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. 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 ...

developed 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 ...

by Aeronautica Umbra shortly before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was designed in 1934 by Felice Trojani, who at that time was collaborating with

Umberto Nobile Umberto Nobile (; 21 January 1885 – 30 July 1978) was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships in the Aviation between the World Wars, years between the two Worl ...

on the Arctic flights of the airships ''

Norge Norge is the Norwegian (Bokmål and Riksmål), Danish and Swedish name for Norway. It may also refer to: People * Kaare Norge (born 1963), Danish guitarist * Norge Luis Vera (born 1971), Cuban baseball player Places * 11871 Norge, asteroid ...

'' and ''

Italia 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 ...

''. The aircraft's designation came from initials of the manufacturer, the surname of the designer, and the aircraft's wing area (18 m²), the sole prototype receiving the serial no. ''M.M.363''.

Design & Development

Born from the same ''

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

'' requirement that spawned the Caproni-Vizzola F.5,

FIAT G.50 The Fiat G.50 ''Freccia'' (“Arrow”) was a World War II Italian fighter aircraft that was developed and manufactured by the aviation company Fiat. Upon entering service, the type became Italy's first single-seat, all-metal monoplane that had ...

, Macchi C.200, Meridionali Ro 51 and

Reggiane Re 2000 The Reggiane Re.2000 ''Falco'' I is an Italian all metal, low-wing monoplane developed and manufactured by aircraft company Reggiane. The type was used by the ''Regia Aeronautica'' (Italian Air Force) and the Swedish Air Force during the first pa ...

fighters, the A.U.T.18 flew for the first time on 22 April 1939, powered by a Fiat A.80 R.C.41 radial engine. The fighter had an all-metal stressed-skin structure, covered in

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium–copper alloys. The term is a combination of ''Düren'' and ''aluminium'' ...

, featuring an inwardly-retracting

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

and retractable tail-wheel and was armed with two

Breda-SAFAT Breda-SAFAT (''Società Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche / Breda Meccanica Bresciana'' - ''Società Anonima Fabbrica Armi Torino'') was an Italian weapons manufacturer of the 1930s and 1940s that designed and produced a range of m ...

machine-guns mounted in the wings just outboard of the undercarriage. Flight trials proved disappointing and lagged behind the other fighters in ''Progetto R'' - the modernisation (''riammodernamento'') of the ''Regia Aeronautica''. With no production orders forthcoming, despite the prototype being returned to the Umbra factory at

Foligno Foligno (; Central Italian, Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennine Mountains, Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clit ...

for modifications on 20 February 1940 and a second flight test series from 5 November 1940, no improvement was demonstrated over fighters already in production so the A.U.T.18 was abandoned.

Operational history

After delivery to the

on 5 November 1940 the fate of the prototype is not known, possibly being transferred to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

for evaluation, it was also rumoured to have been captured by British forces, but it is more likely that it was destroyed in a raid after its transfer to

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

Design & Development

Operational history

Specifications (AUT.18)

See also

Further reading