Continuous Spotted Camouflage for the Savoia Marchetti S.M.81

ImportantSimone5 · January 3, 2026, 3:58am

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Continuous spot camouflage for the Savoia Marchetti S.M.81 in Russia 1943.

History.

The history of the Savoia Marchetti S.M.81 is well known: born in parallel with its civil twin Savoia Marchetti S.M.73, the S.M.81 began its military activity in 1935 with the bombing units of the Regia Aeronautica and played a notable role in the war effort during the Abyssinia campaign and the subsequent Spanish Civil War alongside Franco’s air force, earning the nickname “Pipistrello” for its extensive use in night bombing missions and a fair amount of fame.
Time was cruel but not too cruel to the aircraft, which in 1940, after a limited number of actions against the Allied forces, saw its almost 300 surviving examples folded as transport aircraft due to its age and obsolescence.
With the start of Operation Barbarossa, Italy decided not only to declare war on Moscow but to send Army Expeditionary Forces against this nation, supported by a small air force (initially 85 vehicles) of fighters, bombers, reconnaissance and transport aircraft. Among the aircraft already present and those that had arrived were former bombers, now Savoia Marchetti S.M.8 transport planes, in the hands of three different squadrons, which saw the conflict through from its beginning at the airfield in Tudora (Romania) in August '41 until the retreat from Stalino in early 1943. At least one of these aircraft was painted with a particular colour scheme, not really its own, which was captured in only three photographs and which makes it a rare gem. The ultimate purpose of this (or these) aircraft is totally unknown, as is the certain department to which it belonged or the specimen.

The camo.

The aircraft has a colouring defined by the Italian authorities as continuous green and brown camouflage spots on a yellow camouflage background: in short patches, consisting of a large part coloured Giallo Mimetico 3 and a smaller part (sometimes divided into two smaller patches) coloured Bruno Mimetico, placed on a Grigio Mimetico background (photo 1 in the ‘Pictures and Drawings’ section) [previously, at least in the link photo in the ‘Pictures and Drawings’ section, the background was Verde Mimetico 2, although it is possible that the colour was retained afterwards].
In itself, the colouring is unusual in that it was only used on Piaggio P.108 type bombers.

Pictures and drawnings.

Spoiler

Fototeca Gilardi > Foto FTT13626: ALPINI IN RUSSIA