Ansaldo A . 1 Balilla The Ansaldo A . 1 , nicknamed " Balilla " after the Genoan folk - hero was Italy ' s only domestically - produced fighter aircraft of World War I . Arriving too late to see any real action , it was however used by both Poland and the Soviet Union in the Polish - Soviet War . Development . The A . 1 resulted from continued efforts by the Ansaldo company to create a true fighter . Their SVA . 5 had proved unsuitable in this role , although it made an excellent reconnaissance aircraft and had been ordered into production as such . Ansaldo engineer Giuseppe Brezzi revised the SVA . 5 design , increasing the size of the lower wing , and redesigning the interplane strut arrangement . While this produced more drag , it increased the stiffness of the wing structure and reduced stresses in the airframe . Engine power was increased to 150 kW ( 200 hp ) and a safety system to jettison the fuel tank through a ventral hatch ( in case of onboard fire ) was installed . The first prototype was completed in July 1917 , but acceptance by the air force did not occur until December . Test pilots were not enthusiastic in their evaluation . While they found a marked increase in performance over the SVA . 5 , the A . 1 was still not as maneuverable as the French types in use by Italy ' s squadrons . This resulted in a number of modifications , including a slight enlargement of the wings and rudder , and a further 10 % increase in engine power . This initially proved satisfactory to the air force , and the modified A . 1 ( designated A . 1bis ) was ordered into service with 91 Squadriglia for further evaluation . Reports from pilots were mixed . While the fighter ' s speed was impressive , it proved unmaneuverable and difficult to fly . Nevertheless , with a need to clear a backlog of obsolete fighter types then in service , the air force ordered the A . 1 anyway . Operational history . The first of an original order of 100 machines entered service in July 1918 . The A . 1s were kept away from the front lines and mostly assigned to home defence duties . In the four months before the Armistice , A . 1s scored only one aerial victory , over an Austrian reconnaissance aircraft . It was during this time that Ansaldo engaged in a number of promotional activities , including dubbing the aircraft as " Balilla " , flying displays in major Italian cities , and in August donating an example to Italian aviator Antonio Locatelli as his personal property amidst a press spectacle . ( This latter publicity stunt backfired somewhat when one week later a mechanical fault in the aircraft caused Locatelli to make a forced landing behind enemy lines and be taken prisoner ) . Despite all this , the air force ordered another 100 machines , all of which were delivered before the end of the war . At the armistice , 186 were operational , of which 47 aircraft were ordered to remain on hand with training squadrons , and the remainder were to be put into storage . In Polish service . The A . 1 found a new lease of life , however , when a purchasing committee from the Polish army visited Italy in 1919 in search of new weapons . A contract for ten evaluation aircraft was signed , and these were delivered to Warsaw in January 1920 . The initial impression of pilots there ( mostly American volunteers ) was extremely favourable , on account of its high speed and fuel capacity and , curiously , the maneuverability disdained by Italian airmen . On May 25 , the A . 1s were deployed to the front line . All but one of them were destroyed during the Red Army counterattack in the Ukraine . Nevertheless , the Polish government had already purchased another 25 aircraft and a licence to locally produce another 100 . The new aircraft only arrived after hostilities had ended , and in July 1921 the first of 36 licence - built machines rolled out of the Lublin factory . The Lublin - built machines were some 80 kg ( 180 lb ) heavier than the original Italian design and exhibited frequent problems with their engines and with the quality of their welds . Numerous accidents ensued , including at least nine fatal crashes . In 1924 , the production order was reduced to 80 machines , and soon thereafter to 57 ( the number actually constructed at the time ) . The following year , the armament was removed from all A . 1s then in service , and by 1927 , the type had been withdrawn from service completely . In Soviet service . In 1920 , the White Russian army ordered thirty aircraft , of which 18 were eventually delivered in April 1922 . These were initially deployed in the Kharkov region , flying unarmed ( they had been ordered sans weapons ) . They eventually served around the Baltic and Black Sea until mid - 1928 . During Winter , they were equipped with skis . In Latvian service . In 1921 , Latvia became another buyer , ordering 13 aircraft even though the demonstration flight in Riga ended in a fatal crash for Ansaldo ' s test pilot . The Latvian machines differed from other examples by the addition of insulation to protect the engine from the cold . Promotions in the Americas . In an attempt to secure post - war markets , Ansaldo undertook a number of promotional activities in both North and South America . The firm sent six aircraft to the United States in 1919 in an attempt to attract private buyers - at $ US 6 , 000 apiece . The aircraft ' s high speed proved attractive to record - hunters ; US aviation ace Eddie Rickenbacker set a national airspeed record in one in 1920 , and one was flown with a Curtiss D - 12 engine to third place in the 1921 US Pulitzer air race . Four aircraft were flown on tour to Argentina and then to Uruguay in an attempt to interest the respective governments in the type , Ansaldo even offering each country two of the promotional aircraft with its complements . However , no order ensued from either of them . The company then displayed two aircraft in Peru , and one in Honduras , but without any success there either . With the failure of the South American promotional tour to attract any business , Ansaldo abandoned the A . 1 , and the firm was soon absorbed into Fiat . Mexico acquired one example in 1920 and served in the Fuerza Aérea Mexicana for few years .