The Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali had its origins in the aircraft division of OFM (
Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali), an Italian
railway and rolling stock manufacturing company owned by
Nicola Romeo. Romeo hired
Alessandro Tonini, an
aeronautical engineer experienced in
aerodynamics and airplane design, as OFM's chief designer. OFM contacted
Fokker and got production licence for the
Fokker C.V. It was built by the Naples factory in 1927 as the OFM Ro.1. On 27 October 1934, Romeo spun off the aircraft business, renamed, as the Società Anonima Industrie Aeronautiche Romeo (IAR). The most successful aircraft produced by IAR was the
Ro.37 Lince. The first
prototype Ro.37 flew in November 1933. In 1935, OFM (the railway workshop) was sold to
Società Italiana Ernesto Breda. Romeo later sold Società Anonima Industrie Aeronautiche Romeo to Società Italiana Ernesto Breda, which later became the Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali (IMAM). The new company continued Ro.37 recon
biplane,
Ro.41 fighter biplane,
Ro.51 fighter
monoplane (land/seaplane versions) and developed
Ro.43/
44 seaplanes,
Ro.57/
58 twin-engined fighters and
STOL Ro.63. by a RM cruiser in the early 1940s Approximately 125 Ro.43 catapult floatplanes were built for the
Regia Marina. The type was in service at the
battle of Calabria in July 1940 and the
battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941. In addition to their use aboard ships, a few Ro.43's (average strength, four
floatplanes) were employed by the 161ª Squadriglia Caccia Marina of the Aeronautica dell'Egeo as fighter protection for the Italian-held islands in the
Aegean Sea. In 1939, Meridionali projected a twin-engined single-seat fighter, the Ro.57. Powered by two 840 h.p.
Fiat A.74 R.C.38 radials, the Ro.57 carried two 12.7 mm. and two 20 mm. guns in the nose, and attained a maximum speed of 500 km/h (310.5 mph). Designed by Giovanni Galasso, the IMAM Ro.57 began to leave the production lines of the Naples factory early in 1942, and entered service in small numbers with the
Regia Aeronautica as a
fighter-bomber because of its comparatively low speed and poor manoeuvrability. From the Ro.57 was developed the Ro.57
bis, evolved from the start as a fighter bomber and
dive bomber. Although it was similarly powered, two 20 mm cannon were added to the 12.7 mm machine-guns and dive-brakes were installed. Carrying up to a 500 kg (1,102 lb) bomb under its fuselage, this version was fairly successful but had faded from the scene before the
Armistice of Cassibile. The Ro.63, a short-range reconnaissance and light transport aircraft of comparable quality and reliability or even superior to its German competitor, the
Fieseler Fi 156 Storch, was not put into production in significant numbers due to the shortage of available engines. After
World War II Officine di Pomigliano per le Costruzioni Aeronautiche e Ferroviarie-Aerfer was constituted and in 1955 merged with IMAM to form
Aerfer. Aerfer worked notably on the first generation Italian
jet fighter prototypes
Sagittario and
Ariete. == Aircraft ==