Ansaldo
Genoa’s giant of locomotives and battleships built aircraft only briefly, but in 1918 its SVA biplanes flew over Vienna dropping a poet’s leaflets and in 1920 flew from Rome to Tokyo.
Ansaldo: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Over Vienna with d’Annunzio
On 9 August 1918 a formation of Ansaldo SVA biplanes of the 87th Squadriglia La Serenissima took off from San Pelagio, crossed the Alps and reached Vienna. Over the enemy capital they dropped thousands of leaflets written for the occasion by the poet and nationalist Gabriele d’Annunzio, who flew in a two-seat SVA. Nothing was bombed, but the raid showed that Austria-Hungary could not protect its own heart. Two years later SVAs flew the 1920 Rome to Tokyo raid.
A Genoese colossus
Aircraft were a short chapter for Ansaldo. The company was founded in Genoa in 1853 by Giovanni Ansaldo, Raffaele Rubattino, Giacomo Filippo Penco and Carlo Bombrini, and grew on railway engineering, shipbuilding and armaments into a 10,000-worker group with seven factories. The Perrone family took over in 1904 and pushed for Italian entry into the First World War. By 1918 Ansaldo employed 80,000 workers and its value had risen from 30 million to 500 million lire. It built battleships, cruisers and liners from the Rex to the Andrea Doria, locomotives and tanks.
From SVA to Balilla
The SVA, named after the officers Savoia and Verduzio and Ansaldo, was designed with a team under Celestino Rosatelli and first flew from Grosseto on 3 March 1917. Found inadequate as a fighter, it proved one of the fastest Allied aircraft of the war and an excellent reconnaissance machine; 65 were built in 1917 and 1,183 in 1918 at the new Borzoli works near Genoa and under licence. From it came the A.1 Balilla, Italy’s only home-designed fighter of the war, later flown by Poland and Soviet Russia. After the war Ansaldo licence-built Dewoitine fighters; it was absorbed by Finmeccanica in 1993.
Ansaldo in numbers
A empresa
- Resumidamente
- Founded 1853
- Founded in Genoa as Gio. Ansaldo & C.
- 80,000 employees in 1918
- Under IRI from the 1930s, Finmeccanica from 1948; absorbed 1993
Produção
- Mais conhecido por
- SVA, A.1 Balilla
- SVA: 65 built in 1917 and 1,183 in 1918
- A.1 Balilla fighter: 200 ordered by Italy
- A.300 utility biplane; licence-built Dewoitine D.1 and D.9 (AC.2, AC.3)
- Also battleships, liners, locomotives and tanks
Hoje
- Agora
- Absorbed by Finmeccanica, 1993
- Name survives in Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo Nucleare and others within the Leonardo orbit
Os números
- Funcionários
- 80,0001918
- Funcionários
- 35,0001943
- Company value
- 30 million lire (1914) to 500 million lire (1918)
- SVA built
- 65 in 1917, 1,183 in 1918
Every notable Ansaldo aircraft
| Aeronave | Papel | Primeiro voo | Construído | Status | Observação |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ansaldo Baby | Hidroavião de reconhecimento | Aposentado | Licence-built Sopwith Baby | ||
| Ansaldo SVA | Reconnaissance and light bomber biplane | 1917 | 1,248 by end of 1918 | Aposentado | Flight over Vienna 1918; Rome–Tokyo raid 1920 |
| Ansaldo A.1 Balilla | Lutador | Aposentado | Italy’s only domestically designed WWI fighter; used by Poland and Soviet Russia | ||
| Ansaldo A.300 | Two/three-seat utility and reconnaissance biplane | 1919 | Aposentado | ||
| Ansaldo AC.2 / AC.3 | Parasol fighter (licence Dewoitine D.1/D.9) | Aposentado |
Ansaldo aircraft in the world’s air forces
2 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Ansaldo types. Nenhum deles ainda tem um em serviço.
| Força Aérea | Em serviço | Anteriormente voado |
|---|---|---|
| Aviação Naval Brasileira | Ansaldo SVA 10 | |
| Força Aérea Lituana | Ansaldo A.120 |
Where Ansaldo built, who led it, what it achieved
Fábricas
- Borzoli aircraft works · Borzoli, Genoa — Begun November 1916 for SVA production
Pessoas
- Celestino Rosatelli · engineer — Led the SVA design team
- Giuseppe Brezzi · engineer — Designed the A.1 Balilla
- Ferdinando Maria Perrone · owner from 1904
Recordes e pioneirismos
- SVA: second most numerous aircraft built by the Italian industry in WWI
- A.1 Balilla: Italy’s only domestically designed fighter of WWI to be produced
Ansaldo, year by year
Gio. Ansaldo & C. founded in Genoa
Bought by Ferdinando Maria Perrone
Borzoli aircraft factory begun
SVA prototype first flight at Grosseto
A.1 Balilla enters service
Sobrevoo de Viena
SVAs fly the Rome–Tokyo raid
Perrone family abandons the company; Bank of Italy rescue
IRI entrusts Ansaldo to Finmeccanica
Absorbed by Finmeccanica
Before and after Ansaldo
Everything people ask about Ansaldo
What aircraft did Ansaldo build?
What was the Flight over Vienna?
What does SVA stand for?
Does Ansaldo still exist?
Around Ansaldo
Todos os fatos foram verificados.
Verificado em 03/10/2026.