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Evolved from the Breda Ba 64 of 1933, the Ba 65 assault aircraft prototype powered by a Fiat A 80 RC 41 18-cylinder two-row radial engine rated at 1,000 hp for take-off was flown for the first time in 1935. A single-seat all-metal cantilever low-wing monoplane with aft-retracting main undercarriage members, the Ba 65 carried a wing- mounted armament of two 12,7-mm and two 7,7-mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns and provided internal stowage for a 440-lb (200-kg) bomb load. Production began in 1936, the initial model (81 built) having an Isotta-Fraschini-built Gnome-Rhone 14K 14-cylinder radial of 900 hp, and in August 1937 the 65* Squadrlglla Assalto of the 35/;/o Gruppo Atitonomo Bombardamento Veloce arrived in Spain with 12 Ba 65s for service with the Aviazione Lcgionaria.
In the meantime, a two-scat version, the Ba 65bis, had been developed and export orders for the Breda assault monoplane had been solicited. Fifteen were ordered in 1937 for the Royal Iraqi Air Force and were delivered in 1938 to equip No 5 Squadron of that service. Thirteen of the Aircraft delivered to Iraq were Ba 65bis two-seaters equipped with an hydraulically-operated Breda L dorsal turret mounting a 12,7-mm Breda-SAFAT machine gun. Ten single- seater Ba 65s were delivered to the Soviet Union and 20 to Chile, and 10 examples of the Ba 65bis were ordered for 1939 delivery to Portugal's Arma da Aeronautica. All ex- port Ba 65s were powered by the Isotta-Fraschini engine, but 119 were delivered to the Regie Aeronautica in 1938-9 with the Fiat A 80 RC 41, and a total of 154 of the Breda assault aircraft was included in the service's inventory when Italy entered WW II in 1940, this total including a small number of Ba 65bis two-seaters which were not fitted with the Breda L turret. Owing to the unsatisfactory performance of the Fiat A 80 RC4I under North African conditions, all Ba 65s with this power plant were re- engincd with the 14K.
The Ba 65 was operated by the 101a and 102" Squadriglie of the 193 Gruppo of the 5° Stormo, and the 159a and 160a Squadriglie of the 12 Gruppo and the 167a and 168a Squadriglie of the 16° Gruppo of the 50 Stormo but it proved an ineffectual combat aircraft, and .those that remained operational in North Africa with components of the 50 Stormo played little part in the air war. With the 900 hp Isotta-Fraschini-built Gnome-Rhone 14K engine, the single-seat Ba 65 attained a maximum speed of 258 mph (415 km/h) at 16,400 ft (5 000 m) and 217 mph (350 km/h) at sea level. Maximum cruise was 223 mph (360 km/h) at 13,125 ft (4 000 m), and range was 466 miles (750 km) with a 440-lb (200-kg) bomb load. An altitude of 13,125 ft (4 000 m) was attained in 8 min 40 sec, and service ceiling was 25,590 ft (7 800 m). Empty and loaded weights were 5,291 lb (2 400 kg) and 6,504 lb (2 950 kg), and overall dimensions were:span, 39 ft 0i in (11,90 m), length, 31 ft 6 in (9,60 m), height, 10 ft 11 in (3,33 m), wingarea, 252-95 sq ft (23,5 m?).

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