Regia Aeronautica

The Regia Aeronautica, or Royal Italian Air Force, was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It became a service independent of the Royal Italian Army on 28 March 1923 and lasted until 1946, when the monarchy ended and the name changed to Aeronautica Militare. Italy had made the first reconnaissance flight in history during the colonization of Libya in 1911, before the service existed. Under Benito Mussolini's fascist regime the new service made numerous record-breaking flights, including the 1933 Decennial Air Cruise to the United States led by Italo Balbo and the 1934 floatplane speed record of 709 km/h set by Francesco Agello. It took part in the Spanish Civil War and the invasions of Ethiopia and Albania in the latter half of the 1930s. When World War II began in 1939, Italy had a paper strength of 3,296 machines, of which only about 2,000 were fit for operations.