The Ro.44 was an Italian fighter floatplane developed by IMAM as a single seat variant of the IMAM Ro.43 reconnaissance plane. It underwent its first flight in October 1936. Unlike the Ro.43, the main armament was changed from two 7.7 mm machine guns to two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns in the nose. The tail as well as the rear fuselage where the observer was stationed previously were redesigned. The Ro.44 shared the same issues of the Ro.43 it was developed from, such as problems with buoyancy and sea-handling issues due to the lightweight design and structure. Out of 51 ordered, only 35 were built, and they were used solely in the Aegean Sea with 161 Squadriglia. It was retired from frontlines and sent to seaplane schools shortly after the start of WWII.
The Ro.44 was introduced in Update "Sky Guardians", finally equipping all the naval nations with at least 1 seaplane to use, although many are not regular tree units. Its ability to capture naval points makes it invaluable for naval players. The plane itself is no match for other reserve biplanes such as He-51, or I-15 that outperform the Ro.44 in both speed and manoeuvrability.
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Belt | Belt filling | Armor penetration (mm) at a distance: | |||||
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10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1000 m | 1500 m | 2000 m | ||
T/Ball/Ball/I/AP | 21 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 2 | |
AP/AP-I/HEF/API-T/I | 21 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |
API-T/AP-I/HEF | 21 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |
API-T | 21 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |
AP-I/AP-I/HEF/HEF | 20 | 18 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
Flight performance | |
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Survivability |
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Weaponry |
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