Italian Forces

Regia Aeronautica’s tracked tractor

One of the tracked tractors FIAT-OCI 708CM purchased by Italian Regia Aeronautica for aircraft’s towing on the ground, in the case of this photo a Savoia-Marchetti S.79 bomber on a Homeland airport during the war. Note on the tractor’s nose the Regia Aeronautica’s military plate (RA/Regia Aeronautica red). Designed by S.A. Officine Costruzioni Industriali (OCI), Fiat Group, factory at Modena, the Trattore FIAT-0CI 708CM was a military modified version of farm tracked tractor 708C purchased on 1935 by Italian Army as “trattore da montagna” (mountain tractor) and employed, also for artillery’s towing, on the Colonies, during the Spanish Civil War and the WW2. For airplane’s towing the Italian Air Force employed also wheeled tractors of the same type of the Italian Army’s vehicle. Victor Sierra