MC.202 - Naval Summary

The Macchi C.202 Folgore (Italian "thunderbolt") was an Italian fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Macchi Aeronautica. 

The C.202 was a development of the earlier C.200 Saetta, powered by an Italian-built version of the German Daimler-Benz DB 601Aa engine and featuring a more streamlined fuselage.

The Folgore went into service in July 1941. In combat, it very quickly proved itself to be an effective and deadly dogfighter against its contemporaries.  During its service life, the C.202 was deployed on all fronts in which Italy was involved. During late 1941, it commenced offensive operations over Malta and in North Africa, where Italian and German forces were engaged in heavy combat against British and later American operations. The C.202 continued to be used in North Africa as late as mid-1943, by which point the type was withdrawn to support defensive efforts in Sicily and the Italian mainland following their invasion by Allied forces. It also saw limited use on the Eastern Front and was also operated by Croatia.

As a result of the favorable flight test reports, the C.202 was immediately ordered into production. The complexity of the airframe limited production rate and was expensive to produce, requiring about 22,000 man hours to produce. The Bf 109E/F typically required 4,500-6,000 man-hours. 

Allied pilots who flew against the Folgore were frequently impressed with its performance and manoeuvrability.

The C.202 was often considered to have been superior to both the British Hawker Hurricane and the American Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk that it commonly fought against, at first on the Libyan front, as well as being the equal of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V. The C.202 could effectively fly against the Hurricane, Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Bell P-39 Airacobra, Curtiss P-40 and even the Spitfire at low altitudes. It is said to have recorded a better kill ratio than the ME 109 in North Africa. Australian ace Clive Caldwell, who fought a wide variety of German, Italian and Japanese fighters during 1941–45, later stated that the C.202 was "one of the best and most undervalued of fighters".

In addition to being costly to manufacture, the MC2.202 also had well-known design flaws. In particular it was prone to suddenly entering dangerous spins. Its radios were unreliable, routinely forcing pilots to communicate by waggling their wings. The C.202 had weak armament with just a pair of machine guns that tended to jam. 

This is our naval version of the MC.202, and it comes painted in a desert sand camouflage pattern and magnetized.

In our games, we differentiate between land-based aircraft from naval aircraft. Only the naval version can operate on carriers. The naval versions take 1 more turn to produce (to account for specialized training) but otherwise retains all the cost and combat values of the land-based equivalent. We designate the olive/dark green version as the land-based version.

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