ברדה
A Milan locomotive works that armed Mussolini’s army with machine guns also built warplanes, including the record-breaking Ba.88 Lince, a sleek attack aircraft that proved nearly useless in combat.
Breda: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Locomotives and machine guns
Ernesto Breda founded his company in Milan in 1886 to build locomotives and railway machinery. Like several Italian engineering houses, it drifted into weapons and then aircraft. Its machine guns, the Model 30 and Model 37, became standard issue for the Royal Italian Army in Abyssinia, Albania and the Second World War, and at its wartime peak Breda employed 26,000 people. In 1935 it bought the railway works of Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali and soon afterwards that company’s aircraft division too. Breda’s early aircraft included the Ba.25 trainer, first flown near Milan in 1931.
Ba.65: the attack plane that went to war
The Breda Ba.65 was a single-seat attack aircraft that flew in September 1935. Breda and Caproni built 218 before production ended in July 1939. More than 150 served with Italian forces, including in the Spanish Civil War, where 12 of those sent were lost, and 55 were exported to Iraq, Chile and Portugal. A plan to licence-build 30 in China at the Sino-Italian works in Nanchang was abandoned in December 1937 when the Italian technicians were withdrawn.
The Lynx that could not hunt
Its successor promised far more. The twin-engine Ba.88 Lince first flew in October 1936 and in April 1937 took world speed records over 100 km and 1,000 km circuits from France. But once guns, armour and military equipment were fitted, the Lince became unstable and its performance collapsed, and it was a failure in wartime service. After the war Breda returned to trains and trams. It was nationalised into the EFIM state group in 1962 and liquidated in the 1990s; its rail arm merged with Ansaldo to form AnsaldoBreda.
Breda in numbers
החברה
- בקיצור
- Founded 1886
- Founded in Milan by Ernesto Breda as a locomotive works
- Bought the railway and aircraft divisions of Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali, 1935
- Nationalised into EFIM, 1962; liquidated in the 1990s
הֲפָקָה
- ידוע בעיקר בזכות
- Ba.65 and Ba.88
- Ba.25 biplane trainer, 1931
- Ba.65 attack aircraft, 218 built with Caproni
- Ba.88 Lince, record-breaker turned combat failure
- Model 30 and Model 37 machine guns
הַיוֹם
- עַכשָׁיו
- נִפטָר
- Rail arm merged into AnsaldoBreda
- Armaments arm became Breda Meccanica Bresciana
המספרים
- Peak wartime employees
- 26,000
- עובדים
- כ-8,0001954
- Ba.65 built (Breda and Caproni)
- 218
- Ba.65 exported
- 55, to Iraq, Chile and Portugal
Every notable Breda aircraft
Photos: Charles from Port Chester, New York / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
| כְּלִי טַיִס | תַפְקִיד | טיסה ראשונה | בנוי | סטָטוּס | פֶּתֶק |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breda Ba.25 | Two-seat biplane trainer | 1931 | בְּדִימוּס | ||
| ברדה Ba.65 | Attack and reconnaissance aircraft | 1935 | 218 | בְּדִימוּס | Spanish Civil War and WWII; exported to Iraq, Chile, Portugal |
| ברדה Ba.88 לינסה | Twin-engine attack aircraft | 1936 | בְּדִימוּס | Speed records in 1937; unstable and underpowered in service |
Breda aircraft in the world’s air forces
1 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Breda types. ל-0 מהם עדיין יש אחד בשירות.
| חֵיל הַאֲוִיר | בשירות | טס בעבר |
|---|---|---|
| חיל האוויר העיראקי | ברדה Ba.65 |
Where Breda built, who led it, what it achieved
מפעלים
- Milan works · Milan (Sesto San Giovanni area) — Main industrial complex
אֲנָשִׁים
- Ernesto Breda · מייסד
שיאים וראשונות
- Ba.88 prototype: world speed record over a 100 km circuit, 1 April 1937
- Ba.88: 475 km/h over 1,000 km, 10 April 1937
Breda, year by year
Ernesto Breda founds the company in Milan
Ba.25 trainer first flight
Acquires Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali rail and aircraft divisions
Ba.65 prototype flies
Ba.88 Lince first flight
Ba.88 sets 100 km circuit speed record
Ba.65 production ends
Nationalised into EFIM
Before and after Breda
Everything people ask about Breda
What did Breda build?
Why did the Breda Ba.88 fail?
How many Breda Ba.65s were built?
What happened to Breda?
Around Breda
כל עובדה, נבדקה
- Società Italiana Ernesto Breda – Wikipedia
- Breda Ba.65 – Wikipedia
- Breda Ba.88 Lince – Wikipedia
- Breda Ba.25 – Wikipedia
אומת בתאריך 2026-10-03.