CANT 25

The CANT 25 was an Italian shipboard single-seat biplane flying boat fighter that entered service with the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) in 1931.

Design and development
The CANT 25 was developed from the earlier CANT 18 flying boat to meet a requirement for a flying boat fighter for the Regia Aeronautica. The aircraft was of wooden construction and was armed with two fixed, forward-firing 7.7-millimeter (0.303-inch) Vickers machine guns. It was built in two versions, the CANT 25M with removable wings and the CANT 25AR which was strengthened for catapult launching and had folding wings.

The CANT 25M appeared first, in 1931. It had Warren truss-type interplane bracing and a 306-kilowatt (410-horsepower) Fiat A.20 12-cylinder water-cooled engine mounted to drive a two-bladed pusher propeller, and was used for catapult trials aboard warships of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy). It was replaced by the CANT 25AR—AR stood for Ali Ripiegabili, Italian for "Folding Wings"—which instead had vertical interplane bracing struts to allow the outer panels of the wings to fold to the rear. It also had strengthened tailplane bracing and a more powerful engine, a 328-kilowatt (440-horsepower) version of the Fiat A.20.

Variants

 * CANT 25M
 * Initial version with detachable wings


 * CANT 25AR
 * Later version strengthened for catapult launching and with folding wings

Operators

 * undefined
 * Regia Aeronautica