The Fiat CR.25 was an Italian twin-engine

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

- fighter aircraft which served in small numbers for 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 ...

'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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

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. 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 are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

, 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 and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. * 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 patrol aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft

History

Variants

Operators

Specifications (CR.25bis)

See also

References