Designed by Mario Castoldi, the Macchi MC.202 Folgore (Thunderbolt) gave the Regia Aeronautica its first aircraft capable of holding its own against most Allied fighters of its day. Due to the unreliability of using Italian engines, the MC.202 was matched with the Daimler-Benz DB 601 inline (license produced by Alfa Romeo) which when added to a sleeker redesigned fuselage gave considerably superior perfomance to its predecessor. However, despite the fairly good engine, the MC.202 suffered from poor armament which was its main detriment although later models had additional wing-mounted machine guns and cannon. Overall, however, the Folgore proved worthy fighting in the Mediterranean, North Africa and Russia, and was widely considered superior to the P-39, P-40 and Hurricanes which it encountered in that theater to the point that it was arguably the finest Italian fighter built in significant quantities during the war. After the surrender, the Folgore served in both Allied and Axis air forces in limited numbers.

The first MC.202 was flown on 10 August 1940 and entered service one year later as the MC.202 Serie I, the main production version which was given various much-needed armament upgrades throughout its service life. Other variants included the tropicalized MC.202AS with a dust filter for desert use and the MC.202CB fighter-bomber with provisions for underwing bombs and fuel tanks.