Caproni Ca . 331 The Caproni Ca . 331 " Raffica " ( gust of wind or fire burst ) was an Italian aircraft built by Caproni in the early 1940s as a tactical reconnaissance aircraft / light bomber and also as a night fighter . Development . Ca . 331 O . A . ( Ca . 331A ) . In response to a 1938 Italian Air Ministry requirement for a new tactical reconnaissance aircraft with combat capability , Ing Cesare Pallavacino of the Caproni companys Caproni Bergamaschi subsidiary began design of the Ca . 331 O . A . ( O . A . standing for " Osservazione Area " , Italian for " Area Observation " ) , also designated Ca . 331A , in October 1938 . It was innovative for Caproni in being of all - metal construction . The Ca . 331 O . A . prototype , a twin - engine low - wing monoplane with an unstepped cockpit and glazed nose , had duralumin stressed skin on both its fuselage and wings , and its wings were of an inverted gull - wing configuration . It had two Isotta - Fraschini Delta RC . 40 engines rated at 574 kilowatts ( 770 horsepower ) each . The aircraft employed a three - man crew of pilot , observer / gunner , and radioman / gunner , and was armed with four 12 . 7 - millimeter ( 0 . 5 - inch ) Breda - SAFAT machine gun s — two of them in fixed mounts in the wing roots firing forward , one in a dorsal turret , and one in a ventral mount . The Ca . 331 O . A . also had a bomb bay capable of carrying up to 1 , 000 kilograms ( 2 , 205 pounds ) of bombs and four external bomb racks under its wings . The Ca . 331 O . A . prototype first flew on 31 August 1940 , at Ponte San Pietro with Caproni test pilot Ettore Wengi at the controls . Its original Piaggio propellers proved inadequate , but their replacement with Alfa Romeo - built propellers in 1941 resulted in the aircraft having improved performance which , in fact , exceeded expectations . In 1941 , Caproni Bergamaschi delivered the prototype to the " Regia Aeronautica " ( Italian Royal Air Force ) , which began official tests at Guidonia Montecelio with good results . However , the " Regia Aeronautica " handed the aircraft back to Caproni Bergamaschi without a production order . The German Air Force ( " Luftwaffe " ) then requested control of the aircraft for trials at its test center at Rechlin in Germany . Although the " Luftwaffe " was impressed with the aircraft — probably more so than the Italians — no German order for it resulted . The Ca . 331 O . A . won widespread praise from both the Italian and German pilots — including German fighter ace Werner Mölders ( 1913 – 1941 ) - - who tested it , and the chief of the German " Luftwaffe " , Hermann Göring ( 1893 – 1946 ) , was given a demonstration of its capabilities at Guidonia Montecelio in January 1942 . The reasons for the lack of a production order by either Italy or Germany remain obscure and a matter of debate . Reasons given by various sources include a supposed overreliance on the use of materials in the Ca . 331s construction that may have been in scarce supply ( although this itself is controversial ) in wartime Italy and Germany ; the use of too many parts in the Ca . 331 uncommon with other Italian aircraft ( although it is not clear what specifically these may have been ) ; political problems that Caproni company founder Gianni Caproni ( 1886 – 1957 ) may have had with the Italian Fascist government ( which have not been identified clearly ) ; an unwillingness of the Italian military to cooperate too closely with their German counterparts for fear of being dominated by Germany in the event of a German victory in World War II ; or simply that the Ca . 331 was under development for so long that the requirement for it disappeared before it could enter production , a common problem in the Italian aircraft industry during the World War II years . The sole Ca . 331 O . A . prototype was at the Caproni company airfield at Taliedo at the time the Italian armistice with the Allies took effect on 8 September 1943 . Seized by German forces , it was disassembled , shipped to Germany , and later scrapped . Ca . 331 C . N . ( Ca . 331B ) . By 1942 , the war situation had changed to the point where Italy perceived a greater need for air defense capabilities . Accordingly , in May 1942 the Italian Air Ministry ordered the second Ca . 331 prototype , originally planned as a second Ca . 331 O . A . , to be completed instead as the first prototype of a night fighter version of the aircraft . The night fighter prototype was designated Ca . 331 C . N . , with " C . N . " standing for " Caccia Notturna " , Italian for " Night Fight : " it also was known as the Ca . 331B . The Ca . 331 C . N . , which first flew in the summer of 1942 , differed from the Ca . 331 O . A . in having a stepped cockpit and less nose glazing . Its armament was installed in the spring of 1943 and consisted of four fixed forward - firing 20 - millimeter Mauser MG 151 cannon and four 12 . 7 - millimeter ( 0 . 5 - inch ) Breda - SAFAT machine guns — two of them forward - firing and fixed , one in a dorsal turret , and one in a ventral mount . Its original 596 - kilowatt ( 800 - horsepower ) 12 - cylinder air - cooled Isotta - Fraschini Delta IV engines were replaced by the spring of 1943 with 633 - kilowatt ( 850 - horsepower ) versions of the Delta IV with two - stage superchargers . Like the Ca . 331 O . A . prototype , it was at the Caproni company airfield at Taliedo when the Italian armistice with the Allies took effect on 8 September 1943 , and it suffered the same fate : The Germans seized it there , disassembled it and shipped it to Germany . A second Ca . 331 C . N . prototype was constructed , differing from the first in having an armament of two 20 - millimeter Ikaria cannon and four 12 . 7 - millimeter Breda - SAFAT machine guns , all mounted in the nose . It was still being assembled when Italy surrendered to the Allies on 8 September 1943 , was seized by the Germans and shipped to Germany , destined never to fly . Various modifications were proposed for production models of the Ca . 331 C . N . Engines proposed for production models included the German 1 , 099 - kilowatt ( 1 , 475 - horsepower ) Daimler - Benz DB 605 , the Italian 931 - kilowatt ( 1 , 250 - horsepower ) Isotta - Fraschini Zeta R . C . 42 , and the Fiat RA - 1050 RC . 58 " Tifone " ( Italian for " Typhoon " ) , an Italian copy of the DB 605 expected to give the Ca . 331 C . N . a top speed of per hour . Italian authorities also made various aggressive plans for production of Ca . 331 C . N . aircraft , with as many as 100 built by May 1942 toward an eventual total production run of 1 , 000 aircraft . However , all production plans were cancelled in January 1943 . Other variants . Germany considered building a dual - control assault trainer version of the Ca . 331 to be designated the Ca . 331G . Nothing came of the proposal . An anti - tank version mounting a 37 - millimeter cannon also was proposed , but none were built .