The Fiat CR.25 was an Italian twin-engine

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

- fighter aircraft which served in small numbers for the ''

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 ...

'' during

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 ...

History

40 CR.25s were ordered (later reduced to ten, the two prototypes and other eight airplanes) after the operative failure of the apparently more promising Breda Ba.88 bomber. Later, it was decided to use the CR.25 as a reconnaissance plane and as escort fighter, with a total of nine aircraft (a prototype and the eight pre-production aircraft) for this role. It was used during the war by the 173^a ''Squadriglia Ricognizione Strategica Terrestre'' (Strategic Land Reconnaissance Squadron), operating from

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. Despite positive reports from the pilots, and a proposal by Fiat to resume production, no further aircraft were produced. The prototype MM 332, refurbished as personnel transport, was assigned to the Italian embassy in Berlin.

Variants

* CR.25 : Twin-engined reconnaissance bomber aircraft, two prototypes built. * CR.25bis : Strategic reconnaissance aircraft, long-range escort

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 ...

, eight preproduction aircraft built. * CR.25 D : The prototype MM (Matricola Militare) 332 aircraft, redesignated CR.25 D as a transport for the Italian air attaché in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. * CR.25quater : The CR.25quater, was a more heavily armed version with a slight increase in wing area and 1175 HP engines proposed from FIAT in the spring of 1943. It remained on the drawing tables.

Operators

;: *

Specifications (CR.25bis)

References

Fiat CR.25
* Garello, GianCarlo. ''CR 25''. Turin: La Bancarella Aeronautica, 1997. * * {{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation CR.25 1930s Italian bomber aircraft 1930s Italian military reconnaissance aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear

History

Variants

Operators

Specifications (CR.25bis)

See also

References