Reggiane

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · Italy

Reggiane

Officine Meccaniche Reggiane · Reggiane Officine Meccaniche Italiane S.A. · Reggiane OMI

A railway-wagon works in Reggio Emilia that Count Caproni turned into the maker of Italy’s best-looking fighters, until Allied bombs flattened it and its workers occupied it for a year.

1901Founded
Defunct 1945Status
6Aircraft on record
4Air forces flying its types
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
CountryItalyFounded1901-08FoundersRomano Righi, Policarpo Righi, Giuseppe MenadaHeadquartersReggio Emilia, Emilia-RomagnaStatusDefunct 1945
The story

Reggiane: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Wagons, shells and a count

Reggiane began in August 1901 as a small foundry and machine shop founded in Reggio Emilia by the engineer Romano Righi, his father Policarpo and the local railway chief Giuseppe Menada, who promptly ordered railway wagons from it. By 1912 it was Reggiane Officine Meccaniche Italiane, making locomotives and, during the First World War, artillery shells. The 1930 slump ruined it. The state rescue agency IRI took control in 1933, and in 1935 Count Giovanni Caproni, sensing that Fascist rearmament was coming, bought the majority. At its height the Reggio Emilia plant employed as many as 11,000 people and was the fourth largest factory in Italy.

The Falco and the Sagittario

Under Caproni the works built Piaggio engines and SM.79 bombers under licence, then its own fighters. A team led by Roberto Longhi and Antonio Alessio produced the Re.2000 Falco, which first flew on 24 May 1939. The Regia Aeronautica was unimpressed, so 80 per cent went abroad, to Hungary and Sweden. Its descendants were better: the Re.2001, of which 252 were built, the Re.2002 fighter-bomber, and the DB 605-powered Re.2005 Sagittario, first flown on 9 May 1942. Only 48 were delivered before the September 1943 armistice, but it was widely judged one of the best-looking fighters of the war.

Bombs, bullets and an occupation

On 28 July 1943, days after Mussolini’s fall, thousands of Reggiane workers marched out of the gates to demand the end of the war. Soldiers opened fire and nine were killed, among them a pregnant woman. Allied raids on 7 and 8 January 1944 razed the plant, and in 1945 the aviation division ceased to exist. In October 1950, facing 2,100 redundancies, the workers began the longest factory occupation in Italian history, building a tracked tractor, the R60, to prove the works could make civilian goods. It ended in October 1951 with liquidation. The name lives on in port cranes, today a Konecranes brand.

A railway-wagon works in Reggio Emilia that Count Caproni turned into the maker of Italy’s best-looking fighters, until Allied bombs flattened it and its workers occupied it for a year.Reggiane · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

Reggiane in numbers

The company

In short
Founded 1901

  • Founded in Reggio Emilia in August 1901 by Romano Righi, Policarpo Righi and Giuseppe Menada
  • Controlled by IRI from 1933, by Giovanni Caproni from 1935
  • Up to 11,000 employees at its peak

Production

Best known for
Re.2000 to Re.2005 fighters

  • Re.2000 Falco: 180 built by Reggiane, plus Hungarian licence Héjas
  • Re.2001 Falco II: 252 built
  • Re.2005 Sagittario: 48 delivered before the armistice
  • Licence-built SM.79 bombers and Piaggio radial engines

Today

Now
Aircraft work ended 1945

  • Company liquidated in 1951 after a year-long occupation
  • Fantuzzi Reggiane port-crane brand owned by Konecranes since 2017

The numbers

Peak employees
up to 11,000
Re.2000 exported to Hungary and Sweden
70 and 60
Aviation share of turnover
80%1939–1942
Workers killed, 28 July 1943
9
The aircraft

Every notable Reggiane aircraft

Reggiane Re.2000 Falco IFighter · first flight 1939 · 180 built

Photos: Alan Wilson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Piaggio P.32bis Medium bomber 1937 Retired First aircraft produced by the works, developed by the Caproni group’s study office
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 (licence) Three-engine bomber Retired Built under SIAI-Marchetti licence
Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I Fighter 1939 180 Retired Mostly exported to Hungary and Sweden (J 20); total from variant counts
Reggiane Re.2001 Falco II Fighter and night fighter 1940 252 Retired First of the Reggianes with an inline engine
Reggiane Re.2002 Ariete Fighter-bomber 1940 Retired 200 ordered in 1941; flew against the Sicily landings
Reggiane Re.2005 Sagittario Fighter 1942 48 by Sept 1943 Retired DB 605 engine; one of the three Serie 5 fighters
Who flies them

Reggiane aircraft in the world’s air forces

4 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Reggiane types. 0 of them still have one in service.

Air force In service Formerly flown
Hungarian Air Force Reggiane Re.2000 and MÁVAG Héja I/II
Italian Air Force Reggiane Re.2000 Falco
Italian Naval Aviation Reggiane Re.2000 Catapultabile
Swedish Air Force Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I (J 20)
Places, people, records

Where Reggiane built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Reggio Emilia works · Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna — Fourth-largest factory in Italy; razed by Allied bombing 7–8 January 1944

People

  • Giovanni Caproni · owner from 1935 — Aviation pioneer who bought Reggiane from IRI
  • Roberto Longhi · chief designer — Led the Re.2000 and Re.2005 design teams
  • Mario De Bernardi · test pilot — Flew the first Re.2000, Re.2001 and Re.2002
Timeline

Reggiane, year by year

1901

Founded in Reggio Emilia by Romano Righi

1904

Becomes Società Anonima Officine Meccaniche Reggiane

1933

IRI takes majority control

1935

Giovanni Caproni buys the majority

1937

P.32bis prototype flies

1939

Re.2000 first flight

1939

Hungary orders 70 Re.2000s

1940

Sweden orders 60 Re.2000s

1942

Re.2005 first flight

1943

Nine workers shot dead during an anti-war march

1944

Allied raids raze the works

1945

Aviation division ceases to exist

1950

Workers begin year-long occupation

1951

Occupation ends; company liquidated

Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about Reggiane

What was Reggiane?
An industrial company in Reggio Emilia, founded in 1901, that built railway equipment and, under Caproni ownership from 1935, the Re.2000 series of fighters.
What was the best Reggiane fighter?
The Re.2005 Sagittario, powered by a German DB 605 engine, is generally considered the finest; only 48 were delivered before the September 1943 armistice.
Who flew the Re.2000?
Mainly Hungary, which bought 70 and built the Héja under licence, and Sweden, which bought 60 as the J 20; the Regia Aeronautica used only a few.
Does Reggiane still exist?
Its aviation division ended in 1945 and the company was liquidated in 1951. The name survives in Fantuzzi Reggiane port cranes, owned by Konecranes.

Continue the tour

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Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.