Reggiane Re. 2002

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Reggiane Re. 2002
Model photo Re.2002 of the ICBAFModel photo Re. 2002
Type: Fighter bomber
Design country:

Italy 1861Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946) Italy

Manufacturer:

Reggiane

First flight:

October 1940

Commissioning:

March 1942

Number of pieces:

225

The reggiane re.2002 Ariete (Aries) was a single-seat fighter-bomber , which at Reggiane in Italy was manufactured and a design as all-metal - low-wing aircraft had. The prototype had its maiden flight in October 1940.

History and commitment

The predecessors Reggiane Re.2000 and Reggiane Re.2001 suffered from too weak or insufficiently available engines. A Piaggio P.XIX RC.45 radial engine was used again for the Re. 2002, which was further developed from this. In addition, the airframe was significantly improved. Various shapes of the canopy and engine cowling were tested before finalization. The investigation program also included testing the suspension of a torpedo under the fuselage. A bomb load of 650 kg could be carried.

The Regia Aeronautica originally ordered a lot of 200 machines in September 1941. A first series of 100 machines was delivered in July 1943, while only 48 of the second series could be completed before the Italian armistice of September 3, 1943. The machines were used for occasional nuisance attacks on Malta . During operations against Allied naval forces during their landing in Sicily ( Operation Husky ) in July 1943, the Re. 2002 of the 5 ° Stormo da Assalto suffered considerable losses within four days. In battles with mostly British Spitfire Mk.V 14 machines were lost; Another 14 machines were destroyed in Allied bombing raids on the operational airfield of the Groups 101 ° and 102 ° in Crotone. After the British 8th Army in Calabria began their landing on the Italian mainland on September 3, 1943, machines of Grupo 5 ° flew attacks against the landing forces from Manduria airfield. The armament available there as a fighter-bomber consisted of the on-board weapons, a 250-kg bomb under the fuselage and two 100-kg bombs under the wings. During these fighting, three machines were shot down by British Spitfires.

The approximately 40 machines still remaining in this unit were used after the armistice on the side of the Allies by the Aeronautica Cobelligerante Italiana . They fought German troops in the Balkans and the Aegean Islands and were used to support partisans in northern Italy. The Reggiane machines used by this unit were gradually replaced by Bell P-39 machines supplied by the American allies due to the worsening shortage of spare parts . Some Reggiane were still in service as training aircraft; they were retired in May 1945 at the latest.

Before the armistice, the German Air Force had already ordered 300 Re.2002 aircraft from Reggiane. After Italy left the fascist military alliance on September 3, the German Air Force confiscated all machines available in its access area, including a number of Reggiane Re. 2002 machines. The Luftwaffe initially received at least 40 used fighter-bombers from Reggiane, some of which were deployed against the Resistance in France in 1943/1944 .

Of a further 25 Re.2002 machines, which had been completed in the Reggiane factory in Emilia-Romagna after long delays due to material shortages and changing conversion requests from the German side, only seven machines could be delivered, as most of them were destroyed in bombing by the Allies were. The largely destroyed Reggiane production facilities did not allow any further implementation of the German delivery requests at this point. The system parts that could still be used were taken to the Caproni production facilities in Taliedo and Biella, where further partial lots from previous orders for Re. 2002 were to be manufactured. Of the two machines completed in Biella and 60 in Taliedo, the German Air Force only received 25 units. Some of these aircraft were used as part of the fight against the Resistance in the Aisne , Vercors and Limoges departments ; some machines were used from the Étampes-Mondésir airfield .

variants

Since the availability of the Piaggio engines became a problem after September 3rd, they were to be replaced by BMW 801 engines in the aircraft intended for the German Air Force, especially since the performance of the Piaggio engine did not meet the requirements. Due to the destruction of the Reggiane factory on the territory of the Italian Social Republic by the Allies, however, these plans were no longer implemented.
Project of a two-seater hunting scout. One of the two built was converted from a Re. 2002.

Military users

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
crew 1
length 8.16 m
span 11.00 m
height 3.15 m
Wing area 20.40 m²
Empty weight 2400 kg
Max. Takeoff weight 3240 kg
Top speed 530 km / h
Service ceiling 10,500 m
Range 1100 km
Engines 1 × Piaggio P.XIX RC.45 with 1175 PS
Armament 2 × 12.7 mm MG Breda SAFAT above the engine,
2 × 7.7 mm MG Breda SAFAT in the wings.
Under the fuselage holder for 1 × 650 kg bomb,
under the wings holders for each 1 × 160 kg bomb

literature

  • George Punka: Reggiane Fighters in action (= Aircraft. No. 177). Squadron / Signal Publications, Carrollton TX 2001, ISBN 0-89747-430-9 .
  • Aero. Issue 133, 1986, ZDB -ID 1004579-x , p. 3718.
  • William Green: Warplanes of the Second World War. Volume 2: Fighters. 6th edition. Macdonald, London 1969.
  • Flying Review International. October 1967, ZDB -ID 1461292-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert Jackson (Ed.): Airplanes. The international encyclopedia. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02667-8 .
  2. ^ Reggiane ( Memento of December 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) and others according to Reggiane Re. 2003 # Literature