Savoia Marchetti SM82

Il_Signor_Regio · October 22, 2023, 12:40am

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

Yes
No

0 voters

Description: The Savoia Marchetti SM82 was an Italian bomber from the Second World War. The development started in the 30s when Savoia Marchetti started to project a new heavy bomber that could also serve as a transport based on the previous SM75. The aircraft was developed pretty quickly, and in October 1939, the prototype designated as SM82 in the transport configuration flew for the first time. The first bomber unit flew for the first time one year later. The production was not very fast, and in 1940, only 100 units were delivered. The SM82 was one of the main Italian bombers used in all possible numbers on every front; it was mainly used in the Mediterranean Theater against the British at Gibiltrar, Alexandria, and every other relevant allied site. One of the most iconic missions of the aircraft was against the British base of Manama, an isolated location full of sites for the refining of petrol in the Arabian Peninsula. This operation was achieved mainly thanks to the great range of the SM82. The four bombers, at the command of Lieutenant Ettore Muti, took off from Rodi in the morning of October 19, 1940, towards the objective. In the same night, three of the four aircraft dropped all their bombs on Manama, while the last one lost the formation and bombed Dhahran. The aircraft after the bombing went to Eritrea to refuel. In the entire WW2, this was the longest bombing ever made. Continuing with the history of the aircraft, during the retreat of the axis forces in the African Campaign, it was used mainly to evacue personnel and to bring reinforcements, but it always faced a tremendously high number of allied fighters that gave the operations a lot of problems. At the time of the armistice, over 400 units were made, but only a limited number of them were used by the Aeronautica Cobelligernate (29 units for transport) and by ANR (60 units). After the Italian armistice, the biggest user was Germany, which captured all the remaining SM82s that were not taken by the two Italian air forces and ordered near 300 units to the Savoia Marchetti, who delivered them all at the end of 1944. After the war, 30 units were used by the Italian Air Force mainly for transport until the 1950s, when the aircraft were retired from service. One of them was preserved, and it is visible today at the Italian Museum of Vigna di Valle.

Why it should be in the game: It was one of the most used Italian bomber of the war, it will be a good addition to the bomber line

Specifications

Spoiler

Crew: 4
Length: 22.9 m (75 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 29.68 m (97 ft 5 in)
Height: 6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 118.6 m2 (1,277 square feet)
Empty weight: 11,200 kg (24,692 lb) (bomber)
Maximum takeoff weight: 18,020 kg (39,727 lb) (transport)
18,410 kg (40,587 lb) (bomber)
Powerplant: 3 x Alfa Romeo 128 RC21 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 708 kW (949 hp) each
Propellers: 3-bladed constant speed propellers
Maximum speed: 347 kmh (216 mph, 187 kn)
Cruise speed: 250 km/h (160 mph, 130 kn) at 3,000 m (9,843 ft)
Stall speed: 110 km/h (68 mph, 59 kn)
Range: 2,100 km (1,300 mi, 1,100 nmi)
Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
Armament
Guns:
1x 12.7 mm Breda Safat machinegun
3x 7.7 mm Breda Safat machinegun
Bombs:
4,000 kg of bomb at max
Lodouts:
4x 800 kg bombs
8x 250 kg bombs
4x 500 kg bombs
8x Motobomba FFF