Savoia - Marchetti SM . 85 The Savoia - Marchetti SM . 85 was an Italian monoplane dive bomber and ground - attack aircraft that served in small numbers in the " Regia Aeronautica " at the beginning of World War II . They were soon replaced in service by the Junkers Ju 87 . Design and development . The SM . 85 was part of a programme by the " Regia Aeronautica " to produce a twin - engine monoplane dive bomber based on the theories developed over the previous 20 years by the American General Billy Mitchell , which were enthusiastically adopted by Colonel Amedeo Mecozzi ( who also developed the Breda Ba . 64 and its derivatives ) for attack aircraft . The resulting aircraft , constructed of wood , had a wing set in an upper - middle configuration , a rectangular cross - section fuselage , retractable undercarriage and a fixed tailwheel , and was powered by two Piaggio P . VII C . 35 engines . The wings , made totally of wood , had three longerons , with fabric covering . The aircraft was designed to give the pilot the best possible forward view , with a transparent panel built into the cockpit floor . ' The SM . 85 ' s useful payload was 1 , 150 kg ( 2 , 540 lb ) , including the possibility of fitting a 12 . 7 mm ( 0 . 5 in ) machine gun with 300 - 500 rounds . The aircraft was capable of also using its flaps as airbrakes for diving attacks , a notable characteristic of this aircraft . The bombload was carried in a parallelogram - shaped section mounted under the fuselage . The SM . 85 was capable of carrying a 500 kg / 1 , 100 lb bomb ( or an 800 kg / 1 , 760 lb bomb , the heaviest weapon in the Italian aviation arsenal , but only on very short range missions ) . At maximum payload , with a 4 , 000 kg ( 8 , 820 lb ) takeoff weight , the climb rate was 20 min to 5 , 000 m ( 16 , 400 ft ) , but freshly started engines did not produce their theoretical maximum power and the aircraft was usually much slower than this . The takeoff needed 433 m ( 1 , 421 ft ) , and the landing 415 m ( 1 , 362 ft ) . Ceiling was 6 , 000 - 6 , 500 m ( 19 , 690 - 21 , 330 ft ) and 756 – 827 km ( 470 - 514 mi ) range . Maximum speed was 367 km / h ( mph ) at 4 , 000 m ( 13 , 123 ft ) . The fuel capacity was 1 , 078 L ( 285 US gal ) , contained in four self - sealing fuel tank s . At the maximum payload with a 500 kg ( 1 , 100 lb ) bomb , it was incapable of taking off with a full fuel load ( around 730 kg / 1 , 610 lb ) , so this was used only on ferrying missions . The first prototype was tested in December 1936 , and in spite of its insufficient speed and the disappointing rates of climb , the " Regia Aeronautica " felt there was sufficient room for development and ordered the SM . 85 into production . Despite some improvements , critical deficiencies continued to be experienced during test flights by the " Reparto Sperimentale Volo a Tuffo " . These revised aircraft were disappointing as dive bombers in almost every aspect , with the most serious problems encountered being frequent uncontrollable spins , extremely slow climb rate after a dive , and instability during the dive . Production of the aircraft was halted , and the 34 produced up to that time were organised as 96° " Gruppo Tuffatori " ( 96th Independent Dive - Bomber Group ) . Operational history . In June 1940 , 96° " Gruppo Tuffatori " was relocated to Pantelleria , a small island off Sicily , in anticipation of attacks on Malta and the British Mediterranean fleet . The commander of the group , " Maggiore " Ercolano Ercolani , made it clear to the General Staff that in combat the performance of the aircraft was such that it would result in 100 % losses . In order to prove his assertion , Ercolani volunteered to fly the aircraft himself . These aircraft still didn ' t suffer any losses until the transfer to Pantelleria , when one of them crashed to a wall , killing the pilot . The others carried out a few missions over the Mediterranean until the end of July , but were never involved in real combat . The aircraft was soon withdrawn from service and scrapped , and the " Regia Aeronautica " was obliged to acquire Junkers Ju 87s from Germany which were rapidly introduced into service by the end of summer 1940 . The differences in speed and other characteristics between the two aircraft was not great , apart from the availability of a rear gunner , but the Ju 87 was much more effective as a combat aircraft . Variants . It was remarkably similar to the Henschel Hs 129 in appearance , weight , and performance ; their roles were different , the SM . 86 having neither heavy armour nor cannons for ground attack ( there were some similarities to the de Havilland Mosquito in that the SM . 86 also utilized a small forward cockpit , inline engines , high mounted wing , and wooden construction ) . The SM . 86 was evaluated at Guidonia in 1939 , but in April 1940 , an order for 97 of them was cancelled , despite the necessity to equip a wing with dive bombers . Although the SM . 86 showed an overall improvement in performance , only one was eventually built . It was used over Malta and Greece , because Savoia - Marchetti hoped to receive a contract for this new aircraft . Even though the test aircraft was downed ( by a Ju 87 ) , the aircraft project was continued despite the lack of any official interest until 1941 , when it was terminated . A second prototype powered by 403 kW ( 540 hp ) Isotta - Fraschini Gamma engines flew in August 1941 . The development of the aircraft was abandoned soon after . In any case , this new aircraft didn ' t compare well with the Ju 87 ' s capabilities , even with a new set of airbrakes , flaps and other improvements ( but also hampered by the addition of a new cockpit that provided poor rear and side vision for the pilot ) . The only marginal advantage compared to the Ju 87 was the twin - engine configuration , but the limited power of each engine was not enough to assure a return home if one of these was disabled . The air - cooled design allowed for the elimination of radiators and their vulnerability ( with an improvement on aerodynamics , cost and weight ) , but at low speed and with a limited airflow , overheating was always an issue for this type of engine . The SM . 86 was 32 km / h ( 20 mph ) faster than the Junkers Ju - 87B and even 2 km / h ( 1 . 2 mph ) faster than the Ju 87D , but these differences , when compared to opposing fighter ' s speeds , were minimal . Without a good field of view all - around , and without the second crewmember in the cockpit armed with a defensive machine gun ( nor a forward - firing weapon ) , the SM . 86 was clearly more vulnerable to enemy fighters than the Junkers . Although the SM . 85 programme could be viewed as Savoia - Marchetti ' s worst mistake in wartime , this dive bomber was considered a threat by the British . They considered the possibility of suicide missions made with this aircraft against their ships , having mistaken the meaning of " tuffatori " . The SM . 85 was essentially made into a " training dive - bomber " as it was never really suited to being an operational machine . Its engines were not powerful enough to achieve a satisfactory performance , and even when the SM . 86 was developed , with much improved engines , it was too late . One SM . 85 was , however , modified into a two - seat trainer version . This was developed within a programme that lead to the advanced SM . 93 , another interesting and unusual aircraft , with high - speed performance and a prone pilot position . Development began too late to be put into production , as with almost all other Savoia - Marchetti " series 90s " projects . In retrospect , the SM dive bombers were a failure .