Breda Ba.201
The Breda Ba.201 was an Italian dive bomber designed during World War II, that never entered production.
Development
That the Regia Aeronautica struggled to develop an effective bomber force was surprising to all concerned, as in the pre-war period the Regia Aeronautica was highly rated and performed well during the Spanish Civil War and the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. But its performance in the first months of World War II was poor, even failing to subdue Malta with 1,000 bombers based less than 100 km away. One of the reasons was the lack of dive bombers and effective ground-attack aircraft; the Breda Ba.88 was a failure, and the Caproni Ca.310 was so ineffective that it was replaced by the Fiat CR.32 fighter-bomber. Another failure was the Savoia-Marchetti SM.85 dive bomber, phased out and replaced by the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka even before the evaluation of its successor the Savoia-Marchetti SM.86 was complete.In 1939, a new contest for a dive bomber was called, requiring a single-engine aircraft with a maximum speed of 500 km/h, or 450 km/h if twin-engined, capable of carrying 500 kg bombs, with an endurance of 1,200 km with a single engine, or 2,400 km with two engines. There was only one twin-engine proposal, the Piaggio P.122, which despite its all-metal construction, dorsal-wing airbrakes, two Piaggio P.XI R.C.40 engines giving a total of 1,491 kW, and the lack of competitors, was considered unfit for service and was unbuilt.
The Ba.201 first entered testing in July 1941, and had 13.5 hours of flight time over 34 test flights. After revisions the Ba.201 re-entered testing in March 1942. These two testing phases gave the Ba.201 a total of about 40 hours of flight time.
Two single-engined types were proposed, the Caproni Ca.355, a single seat derivative of the Ca.335 light bomber that first flew in January 1941 and the Breda Ba.201.
Design
The Ba.201 was a single-engined cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction. It had inverted gull wings with split flaps that doubled as dive-brakes, and was fitted with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage. It had a long slim fuselage, with a low mounted tailplane. The cockpit was set as far forward as possible to give a good view for the pilot.The dive capabilities were found to be satisfactory, and the air brakes were highly effective, perhaps too effective – with the risk of slowing the aircraft down so much it became too easy a target. It was capable of carrying a single 500 kg bomb and was armed with two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns fixed in the wings. After such engines as the 895 kW Fiat A.38, the 716 kW Isotta-Fraschini IF L.121, and the powerful 839 kW Isotta-Fraschini Zeta, were evaluated, the Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine was chosen, because it was compact, and allowed free dives thanks to its direct injection system.
The prototype first flew on 3 July 1941, and after an initial series of test flights at Breda's works, was demonstrated in front of General Mario Bernasconi on 26 September 1941 before being transferred to the Centro Sterimentale, the flight test centre, at Guidonia. The aircraft showed that it had enough agility, once freed of its bombload, to hold its own against other Italian fighters. However speed was disappointing, only 460 km/h – slower than the requested for 500 km/h – and slightly slower than older front-line fighters. The aircraft was barely capable of defending itself against enemy fighters, and then only after releasing its bomb. It had very good forward visibility, but rear visibility was poor.
In comparison, the Junkers Ju 87D had a top speed of only 410 km/h, but was armed with two new 7.92 mm MG 81z machine guns, with 3,200 rounds per gun instead of 1,050. The Junkers rear-gunner gave it a greater defensive capability, while the Ba.201 pilot relied on himself alone. The Reggiane Re.2001 fighter bomber fitted with the same DB 601 engine was able to reach almost 550 km/h, and carry 640 kg bombs.
The first prototype MM.451 was followed by only one other before the programme was cancelled.