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 machine-guns and cannon primarily for use in aircraft. Based on the
M1919 Browning machine gun
The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The M1919 saw service as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and ...
, the Italian guns were chambered to fire indigenous ammunition with and calibres, predominantly ball, tracer for the 7.7mm, including high explosive incendiary tracer (HEI-T) (filled with 0.8 grams of
PETN
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), also known as PENT, PENTA, (ПЕНТА, primarily in Russian) TEN, corpent, or penthrite (or, rarely and primarily in German, as nitropenta), is an explosive material. It is the nitrate ester of pentaerythri ...
), or armour-piercing (AP) for the 12.7mm.
Design and development
During the 1930s both Breda and SAFAT (a division of
FIAT
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
) were given the task of producing designs for a new range of machine-guns for use in aircraft of the
Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...
, the offering from Breda being preferred. FIAT contested the decision but lost, resulting in the sale of SAFAT to Breda to form Breda-SAFAT.
Despite the aim of producing an airborne machine-gun equal or superior to other similar weapons, the use of low propellant capacity rounds resulted in significantly lower muzzle velocities than other weapons of similar calibres. Other inadequacies included high weight and modest rates of fire as well as the ineffectiveness of the High Explosive-Incendiary-Tracer round.
However, despite these shortcomings, the Breda-SAFAT gun was generally praised by the Italian pilots and armourers, the pilots because of its long range and apparent good hitting power, the armourers because of its reliability.
Thus, Italy lacked machine-guns with the critical qualities of light weight, a high rate of fire, good muzzle velocity, good projectile weight and reliability, while the Soviets, Germans, Americans and Japanese had 12.7 mm calibre automatic ordnance in the
Berezin UB
The Berezin UB (russian: УБ - Универсальный Березина) (''Berezin's Universal'') was a 12.7 mm caliber Soviet aircraft machine gun widely used during World War II.
Development
In 1937, Mikhail Yevgenyevich Berezin bega ...
,
MG 131
The MG 131 (shortened from German: ''Maschinengewehr'' 131, or "Machine gun 131") was a German 13 mm caliber machine gun developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig and produced from 1940 to 1945. The MG 131 was designed for use at fixed, flexible ...
,
Browning M2
The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...
, and
Ho-103
The Type 1 machine gun ( signifying its year of adoption, 1941) was a Japanese aircraft-mounted heavy machine gun widely used during World War II. It was also known as the Ho-103. The weapon itself was largely based on the American .50-caliber ( ...
respectively. Late-war Italian aircraft began to adopt the "original" calibre German Mauser
MG 151 cannon
The MG 151 (MG 151/15) was a German 15 mm aircraft-mounted autocannon produced by Waffenfabrik Mauser during World War II. Its 20mm variant, the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon, was widely used on German Luftwaffe fighters, night fighters, figh ...
to give their aircraft parity in firepower with Allied fighters, with as many as three MG 151 fitted to
Macchi MC.205,
Fiat G.55
The Fiat G.55 ''Centauro'' (Italian: " Centaur") was a single-engine single-seat World War II fighter aircraft used by the '' Regia Aeronautica'' and the ''Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana'' in 1943–1945. It was designed and built in Turin b ...
and
Reggiane Re.2005
The Reggiane Re.2005 ' ( en, Archer, Sagittarius) was an Italian monoplane fighter and fighter-bomber produced for the ''Regia Aeronautica'' during the later years of World War II. Along with the Macchi C.202/ C.205 and Fiat G.55, the Reggiane ...
—the third cannon firing through the propeller hub of the licence-built
Daimler-Benz DB 605
The Daimler-Benz DB 605 is a German aircraft engine built during World War II. Developed from the DB 601, the DB 605 was used from 1942 to 1945 in the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, and the Bf 110 and Me 210C heavy fighters.
The DB 610, a p ...
engines (Fiat ''Tifone'') inline inverted V12 engines used to power these aircraft—in addition to
synchronized cowl-mounted 12.7mm Bredas-SAFATs.
The Breda guns, although adequate in 1935 at the time of their design, were out-classed by the standards of 1940, with Italian fighters such as the
Fiat C.R.42
The Fiat CR.42 ''Falco'' ("Falcon", plural: ''Falchi'') is a single-seat sesquiplane Fighter aircraft, fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian in the 1930s and during th ...
,
Fiat G.50 Freccia,
Macchi MC.200
The Macchi C.200 Saetta (Italian: "Lightning"), or MC.200, was a fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Aeronautica Macchi in Italy. Various versions were flown by the ''Regia Aeronautica'' (Italian Air Force) who used the type throughou ...
,
Macchi MC.202 and
Reggiane Re.2000 still only having two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine-guns and sometimes two extra 7.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine-guns. Despite their shortcomings, thousands of Breda guns were built in the 1930s and 1940s, arming nearly every Italian fighter and bomber of that period. Many of these weapons were also adapted for the anti-aircraft role and remained in service until the 1970s as reserve weapons; even if all the aircraft that they equipped had been phased out by that time.
Applications
Fighters
*
Fiat CR.32
*
Fiat CR.42
The Fiat CR.42 ''Falco'' ("Falcon", plural: ''Falchi'') is a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian in the 1930s and during the Second World ...
*
Fiat G.50 Freccia
*
Fiat G.55
The Fiat G.55 ''Centauro'' (Italian: " Centaur") was a single-engine single-seat World War II fighter aircraft used by the '' Regia Aeronautica'' and the ''Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana'' in 1943–1945. It was designed and built in Turin b ...
*
Macchi C.200
The Macchi C.200 Saetta (Italian: "Lightning"), or MC.200, was a fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Aeronautica Macchi in Italy. Various versions were flown by the ''Regia Aeronautica'' (Italian Air Force) who used the type throughou ...
*
Macchi C.202
*
Macchi C.205
The Macchi C.205 ''Veltro'' ( it, Greyhound) (also known as MC.205, "MC" standing for "Macchi Castoldi") was an Italian World War II fighter aircraft built by the Aeronautica Macchi. Along with the Reggiane Re.2005 and Fiat G.55, the Macchi C.205 ...
*
Reggiane Re.2000
*
Reggiane Re.2002
*
Reggiane Re.2005
The Reggiane Re.2005 ' ( en, Archer, Sagittarius) was an Italian monoplane fighter and fighter-bomber produced for the ''Regia Aeronautica'' during the later years of World War II. Along with the Macchi C.202/ C.205 and Fiat G.55, the Reggiane ...
Bombers
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Caproni Ca.133
The Caproni Ca.133 was a three-engined transport/bomber aircraft used by the Italian ''Regia Aeronautica'' from the Second Italo-Abyssinian War until World War II.
Originally developed as a civilian airliner and successor to the Ca.101, the ...
*
Caproni Ca.309
The Caproni Ca.309 ''Ghibli'' was an Italian aircraft used in World War II. Its nickname 'Ghibli' refers to a desert wind that later served as the inspiration for animation Studio Ghibli's name.
Development
The Caproni Ca.309 was designed by C ...
*
Caproni Ca.310
*
Fiat BR.20
The Fiat BR.20 ''Cicogna'' (Italian: " stork") was a low-wing twin-engine medium bomber that was developed and manufactured by Italian aircraft company Fiat. It holds the distinction of being the first all-metal Italian bomber to enter service;B ...
*
Piaggio P.108
The Piaggio P.108 ''Bombardiere'' was an Italian four-engine heavy bomber that saw service with the Regia Aeronautica during World War II.Matricardi 2006, p. 257. The prototype first flew on 24 November 1939 and it entered service in 1941.
I ...
*
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
Ground-attack
*
Breda Ba.64
*
Breda Ba.65
The Breda Ba.65 was an Italian all-metal single-engine, low-wing monoplane used by ''Aviazione Legionaria'' during the Spanish Civil War and '' Regia Aeronautica'' in the first half of World War II. It was the only Italian ground-attack aircr ...
Notes
References
*
* Gustavsson, Håkan; Slongo, Ludvico (2012). Gladiator vs Cr.42 Falco : 1940-41. .
*
External links
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Italian Wikipedia image of a SAFAT machine gun in the ground role
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breda-Safat Machine Gun
Aircraft guns
Heavy machine guns
Medium machine guns
Machine guns of Italy
Breda weapons
World War II machine guns
12.7×81 mm firearms