Italian Forces

Above the Balkans with a new turret

Stato Maggiore Aeronautica

Italian bombers Fiat BR.20M “Cicogna” (Stork) in mission above the Balkans, 1941. The aircrafts have already the new dorsal turret manually-operated Caproni Lanciani Delta E armed with a Scotti 12.7 mm machine gun which has replaced the electrically-operated retractable Breda M1 turret mounted on the planes of the previous series. The long tube visible in the opposite side of the MG’s barrel serve as aerodynamic balance. In substance is a tube symmetric to the MG’s barrel which move top and bottom along with the same barrel (in the photo MG’s barrel and tube for aerodynamic balance are top traversed) balancing in this matter the aerodynamic drag opposed to the gunner. The traverse of this turret is 360 degrees. Victor Sierra