Aerfer Ariete

Aerfer

Industry	Aerospace
Headquarters	Italy

Template:Infobox aircraft

The Aerfer Ariete (meaning Ram or Aries in Italian) was an experimental fighter aircraft developed in Italy during 1958. It represented an enhanced evolution of the Aerfer Sagittario 2, aiming to upgrade that model to a level suitable for mass production as an effective combat platform.

Maintaining the majority of the Sagittario 2’s design characteristics, including a frontal air intake and a ventral exhaust for the primary Derwent engine, the Ariete incorporated an additional auxiliary turbojet engine — the Rolls-Royce Soar RS.2 — to deliver supplementary thrust during climb and sprint phases. This secondary engine featured a retractable dorsal intake and exhausted at the rear fuselage.

No serial production followed; plans for a variant powered by a de Havilland Spectre rocket engine instead of the auxiliary turbojet, known as the Aerfer Leone (translating to Lion or Leo), were discontinued prior to prototype construction.

Operators

Template:ITA

• Italian Air Force operated two units strictly for evaluation purposes

Bibliography

• Buttler, Tony. X-Planes of Europe II: Military Prototype Aircraft from the Golden Age 1946–1974. Manchester, UK: Hikoki Publications, 2015. ISBN 978-1-90210-948-0
• Swanborough, Gordon. Air Enthusiast, Volume One. London: Pilot Press, 1971. ISBN 0-385-08171-5.