Macchi C.202 Folgore
Italy's Daimler-Benz DB 601-engined fighter of 1941–43, adapted by Mario Castoldi from the radial-engined C.200 Saeta and judged by the Smithsonian the best fighter the Regia Aeronautica fielded in significant numbers. NASM puts production at about 1,500 built between 1941 and 1943, Macchi itself building fewer than 400 and Breda and S.A.I. Ambrosini the balance. The Folgore fought over Malta and North Africa and, briefly, on the Eastern Front, served on with the Co-Belligerent Air Force after the 1943 armistice, and survives in just two examples.