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Originally Posted by carpenoctem1689
This proves how inept the Regia Aeronautica was.
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I don't think so. There were very sound reasons why the Fiat C.R.42 was put into service. But let's first look at the Fiat's contemporaries.
The Gloster Gladiator admittedly first flew on 12 September 1934, but it didn't enter service with the RAF until February 1937. And even though both the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire were under development at that time, the RAF continually requested that Gloster provide upgrades to the Gladiator, they being the new Mk.II in November 1937, desert filters and ammo capacity in Feburary 1938, three blade metal propellors in June 1938 and the introduction of the Sea Gladiator in October 1938. The aircraft served in France, Norway, BoB (local protection over Plymouth), the Western Desert, Greece and Malta, as well as being the primary Carrier fighter until replaced by Fulmars and Sea Hurricanes in late 1941. In fact front-line service ended in Egypt in 1942!
The Henschel Hs123 first flew in May 1935 and entered service with the fledgling Luftwaffe in June 1936. And although production finished in October 1938, it remained in front-line service until September 1944! It saw service in the Spanish Civil War, Poland, France, the Balkans and then Russia.
The last biplane comparison is the Polikarpov I-153. It first flew in June 1938, and entered service in May 1939 with the V.V.S. It first saw service against Japan in the Nomonhan Incident on the Manchurian boarder in 1939, followed by the war against Finland in 1939-40 and the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939. It was still in front-line service at the commencement of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, and was only withdrawn from service in March 1942.
The Fiat C.R.42 first flew on 23 May 1938, and entered service with the Regia Aeronautica in April 1939. It saw service over France, briefly over Britain, Greece, Crete, East Africa and throughout the Western Desert and Malta. It was withdrawn as a front-line fighter in December 1941, but remained in service first in the ground attack role, then as a night fighter until Italy surrendered in 1943.
So given the development history of Biplanes the fact that Italy also continued to develop them in 1938 is reasonable. And although the Regia Aeronautica knew that the Fiat C.R.42 was 'obsolescent' at the time of it's introduction, Italy had several pressing reasons to continue it's development.
The first was the all important Export Revenue. Of the first 200 Fiats produced, 149 went in export sales - 25 to Belgium, 52 to Hungary and 72 to Sweden.
The second and third reasons for the Fiat C.R.42 being produced was that it's proposed replacements were delayed.
The Italian Air Ministry called for a C.R.42 replacement in a 1936 specification, requiring that the new aircraft be a monoplane. Both Fiat and Macchi were following monoplane development in other countries with a very close eye. Fiat designed the G.50 Freccia, Macchi the M.C.200 Saetta.
The G.50 first flew in February 1937, but service entry was affected in 1938 by diversion of the first twelve to Spain for the Civil War. Following the Spanish trial, a number of improvements were istigated by Fiat, which delayed service entrance until early 1939. The improved G.50bis didn't enter widespread service until December 1940. Only one Gruppo was equipped with the Fiat G.50 in June 1940.
Progress of the Macchi M.C.200 wasn't much better. It first flew in December 1937, and entered service in October 1939. Poor production techniques, and low quality control though affected the delivery rate, and at the time of Italy's declaration of war in June 1940 only 156 M.C.200's were in service.
So if Italy had not developed the Fiat C.R.42, then it's ability to offer fighter protection would have been limited to 156 M.C.200's and 45 G.50's!
Seen in that light it is not a wonder that the C.R.42 was developed, and production continued so late in the war.