The Fiat G-91R
In 1953 NATO initiated the competition for building a new leight weight tactical strike fighter. Of the three competing designs, the French Dassault Mystère XXVI and Breguet 1001 Taon and the Italian Fiat G.91, the Italian won. The first prototype of the G.91 flew on 9 August 1956 from the Fiat test-base Caselle. As a result three air forces chose the G.91 as their future strike fighter: the Italians, the Greek and Turkish (combined), and the West Germans. The Italians got 31 prototypes and pre-production aircraft, of which the 16 surviving were converted to G.91PAN for the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team, and 97 G.91R/1. The R versions were combined strike and reconnaissance fighters. A Greek/Turkish order for 50 G.91R/4 was cancelled; only a few were painted in the colours of the Hellenic Air Force. The West German Air Force eventually took over these 50 R/4 aircraft and got 50 Fiat built R/3 and another 294 R/3 aircraft built under licence by a consortium of Messerschmitt, Heinkel and Dornier. Of the Fiat built aircraft, one aircraft, coded EC+105, went to the US Army for tests. This aircraft received temporarily a US Army dress, coded 0065 (US serial 60-065), but returned to Germany and ended his life as 30+11.
Also a number of the training version, the G.91T were delivered. They will be communicated in a separate chapter of this website.
West Germany got the following ‘Geschwader’ (wings ) using the G-91R:
- Waffenschule 50 (WS50), using BD+ code at Erding
- Jagdbombergeschwader 41 (JBG41), using DG+ code at Husum
- Jagdbombergeschwader 42 (JBG42), using DH+ code at Pferdsfeld
- Aufklärungsgeschwader 53 (AKG53), using EC+ code at Leipheim
- Aufklärungsgeschwader 54 (AKG54), using ED+ code at Oldenburg
- Erprobungstelle 61 (ES61), using YA+ code at Manching
Due to a reorganization the two Jagdbombergeschwader were renamed to Leichtenkampfgeschwader 41 and 42 (LKG41 and LKG42), AKG53 became LKG44 and AKG54 became LKG43. WS50 moved to Fürstenfeldbruck and was at the end of the G-91 time renamed as JBG49. The last Fiats retired in 1982.
Italy got the following ‘Stormo’ (wings):
- 2 Stormo at Treviso San Angelo
- 5 Stormo at Treviso San Angelo
- 32 Stormo at Brindisi
- 51 Stormo at Istrana
- 313 Gruppo (squadron) Autonomo Addestramento Acrobatico at Udine/Rivolto.
In the first years, the early sixties, 5 and 51 Stormo were active, in the later years 2 and 32 Stormo. The active life of the Fiat ended with 2 Stormo in 1995.
The Portugese Air Force got the need for a light attack aircraft for the colonial war in Guinea in the mid sixties of last century. By that time the West German Air Force offered their remaining G.91R/4 for sale, and the Portugese could use them very well. The 40 surviving R/4 aircraft were delivered in 1966 and went to the Bissau Air Base in Guinea, where they were used in armed action. Several aircraft were shot down. The G.91’s were also used in Mozambique.
The Portugese revolution in April 1974 changed a lot. The new parliament decided to give independence to the African colonies, and so all the Fiats went back to Portugal and arrived at the Tancos and Montijo air bases. In 1976 a further 14 R/3 aircraft were purchased from the West German Air Force, followed by 56 more in the years to follow. From these 70 R/3 only 33 saw active service, the other ones had been cannibalized for spare parts. The Fiats retired in 1993.
