In terms of armament for a heavy fighter, the SM.92 was not to disappoint. 2 x 20mm MG 151 cannons (German) were fitted in the central wing mainplane with a third installed in the starboard side fuselage. A single 12.7mm Breda-SAFAT heavy machine gun was installed under each engine with a third fitted to the tail stabilizer unit facing aft (remotely-controlled to engage any trailing interceptors). Beyond its fixed armament, the SM-92 was slated to carry upwards of 4,400 pounds of conventional drop ordnance under the central wing mainplane and an additional 350 pounds under each outboard wing mainplane.
The SM.92 was devised to fulfill an Italian Air Force requirement for a new twin-seat multirole fighter. The wings, tailplanes and boom of the earlier SM.91 were retained for expediency and a twin fuselage, twin-boom planform was used to harness the power of two engines and doubled internal storage space. It was expected that the aircraft would exhibit the required performance of a fighter with the added punch of something more that a traditional fighter could offer. Construction of a flyable prototype was slow and complicated and a first flight was not recorded until October of 1943. Performance was shown to be slower than expected but over twenty hours of flying were recorded through this one example still (though the design was never properly fully vetted). September of 1943 saw the Italians surrender to the Allies but this left the SM.92 in Axis hands nonetheless. In March of 1944, the prototype was engaged by an Axis pilot who mistook the aircraft for an Allied Lockheed P-38 "Lightning" - an American-made fighter which also used a twin-boom configuration but a single, central nacelle for its cockpit placement. While surviving through desperate maneuvering, the prototype was riddled with enough bullets that damage forced it to be grounded for an extended period of time while repairs were enacted.
After this, the sole prototype was lost when Allied bombs were dropped on its holding area - destroying it completely and ending its attempt at fulfilling the Italian Air Force requirement.
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