Luftwaffe analysis of Italian fighters

[old man emu]

During war, everybody tries to examine the other bloke's weapons. It doesn't matter if the other bloke is your ally or your enemy. You are always on the lookout for something better.

 

During the middle stages of WWII, the Luftwaffe had a look at the fighters that Italy was using. Obviously if there was anything good amongst them, Germany could have contracted for the manufacture of the good stuff to bolster its own needs. This video gives the results of that investigation. What stands out is that, although one or two Italian aircraft were pretty good, or could be readily upgraded, the German desire for fighter-bombers instead of all out fighters lead them to discount the Italian planes. The cause was most often that the Italians put their radiators in the middle of the lower surface of the fuselage, thereby taking up the space for bomb racks.