Società Italiana Ernesto Breda (), more usually referred to simply as Breda, was an Italian mechanical manufacturing company founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886.

History

The firm was founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. It originally manufactured

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s and other railway machinery, but later branched out into

armaments A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...

and

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. Occasionally, not continuously, the company also built

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es. In 1935, it acquired the railway division of Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali and, soon afterwards, the aircraft division of the same company. Breda-designed machine guns such as the Breda Model 30 and Breda Model 37 were standard issue weapons for the Royal Italian Army during the

Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression waged by Italy against Ethiopia, which lasted from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Ita ...

, the

Italian Invasion of Albania The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign which was launched by Fascist Italy, Italy against Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939), Albania in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime m ...

and World War 2. At the peak of its wartime production, the company had 26,000 employees. By 1954, its workforce had been reduced to around 8,000. In 1962, Breda was nationalised as part of EFIM, but was liquidated in the 1990s. The train and tram manufacturing division fused with Ansaldo to form AnsaldoBreda, the armaments division became an independent entity as

Breda Meccanica Bresciana Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

, as did the research division as Istituto Scientifico Breda.

Products

Aircraft products

* A.2 * A.4 * A.7 * A.8 * A.9 * A.10 * A.14 * Ba.15 * Ba.19 * CC.20 * Ba.25 * Ba.26 * Ba.27 * Ba.28 * Ba.32 * Ba.33 * Ba.39 * Ba.42 * Ba.44 * Ba.46 * Ba.64 * Ba.65 * Ba.75 * Ba.79S * Ba.82 * Ba.88 * Ba.92 * Ba.201 * Ba.205 * BP.471 * BZ.308 * BZ.309 * Tebaldi-Zari

Rolling stock products

Locomotives

* South African Class 15CA 4-8-2 * SEK class Μα * E.330 * D.341 * D.345 * D.443 * E.424 * E.428 * E.636 * HŽ series 1061

DMU and EMU

* ETR 200 * ETR 240 * ETR 300 * FNM Class E.750

Metro

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

2000-Series, 3000-Series, 4000-series * Breda A650

Tram and light rail

* ATM Class 1500 * ATM Class 4600 and 4700 * LRVs for RTA Rapid Transit (Cleveland) * MBTA Green Line Type 8 (production continued after merger) * LRV2 and LRV3 for Muni Metro (San Francisco)

Trolleybuses

The production of

es was a small part of Breda's output, carried out through its subsidiary ''Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie'' ( it), and was not under way continuously. Between 1936 and 1940, the company built a total of 28 trolleybuses, most for the Rome system but including six for

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. At various times between 1938 and 1956, more trolleybuses were built, but totalling only 16. Production resumed in 1988. Almost all of Breda's customers for trolleybuses were Italian trolleybus systems, but a notable exception was an order of 236 dual-mode buses that Breda built for the Seattle system between 1988 and 1991.

References

External links

Treccani.it BREDA, Ernesto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breda, Societa Italiana Ernesto AnsaldoBreda Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Milan Italian brands Manufacturing companies of Italy Trolleybus manufacturers Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Italy Manufacturing companies established in 1886 Italian companies established in 1886 Conglomerate companies of Italy Bus manufacturers of Italy Electric vehicle manufacturers of Italy