The Ro.43's long wartime prominence reflected procurement priorities as well as the aircraft's usefulness. Neither the Regia Marina's aviation needs nor IMAM's production received the industrial priority required for a rapid replacement. The ship-launched Reggiane Re.2000 entered experimental naval use with a test pilot in 1942 and reached operational ships only in 1943, generally as a single aircraft per vessel. Accounts of Italian cruisers and battleships launching reconnaissance or fire-control aircraft in the Mediterranean therefore almost always refer to the Ro.43, even though it was a 1934 biplane design.
Notable Point · 23:28-27:47
Why the Ro.43 remained Italy's shipboard aviation mainstay
Low aviation priority and the late, limited arrival of ship-launched Re.2000 fighters left the biplane Ro.43 carrying most Regia Marina scouting and fire-control duties.