Editing Macchi C.202 Folgore (section)

===Eastern Front operations===
During May 1942, the 22° ''Gruppo Caccia'', which had reached its operational limit, was replaced by the newly formed 21° ''Gruppo Autonomo C.T.'' composed of 356ª, 382ª, 361ª and 386ª ''Squadriglia''. This unit, commanded by ''Maggiore'' (Major) Ettore Foschini, brought new C.202s and 18 new Macchi C.200 fighters.<ref name="Neulen p. 63">Neulen 2000, p. 63.</ref> During August 1942, at the beginning of the German offensive, they were deployed at the [[Stalino]], [[Luhansk|Lughansk]], Kantemirovka and [[Millerovo]] airfields, typically performing ground attack strikes against the [[Red Army]] positions along the east [[Don River (Russia)|Don river]] during October–November 1942.<ref name="Cattaneo p. 7." /> In this theatre, the fighters were operated under adverse climate conditions (40° to 45° below zero and heavy snow storms) as well as frequently coming under heavy harassment from Russian fighter-bombers.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} As a consequence of these operational circumstances, 21° ''Gruppo'' – which had 17 C.202s on strength – were rarely able to conduct sorties; as such, only a total of 17 missions were flown with ''Folgores'' on the Eastern Front during a four-month period.<ref name="Bergström p. 98">Bergström 2007, p. 98.</ref>

When they were able to conduct combat operations, the C.202 were frequently used as escorts alongside their older C.200 siblings for [[Fiat BR.20]]M and [[Caproni Ca.311]] bombers in attacks against Soviet columns, during which they would typically be facing aerial opposition from great numbers of [[Soviet Air Forces]] (VVS) fighters. The C.202 were also regularly used to escort [[CANT Z.1007]]bis during the latter's reconnaissance missions,{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} as well as for German transport aircraft. During one such mission, on 11 December 1942, which involved the escorting of several [[Junkers Ju 52]]s en route to [[Stalingrad]], ''Tenente Pilota'' Gino Lionello was shot down and forced to bail out from his ''Folgore''.<ref name="Bergström p. 98">Bergström 2007, p. 98.</ref>

After the abandonment of [[advanced airfield]]s between December 1942 – January 1943 at [[Voroshilovgrad]], Stalino and Tscerkow, the Italian air units were operated in a series of defensive actions against a more potent Soviet air offensive, consisting mainly of [[Ilyushin Il-2|Ilyushin IL-2s]] ''Shturmoviks'' and [[Petlyakov Pe-2]]s. During March 1943, the ''Corpo Aereo Italiano'' was detached to [[Odessa]] airbase, joining [[Reggiane Re 2000|Reggiane Re. 2000]] Héja I of the Hungarian ''MKHL'' 1 and 2/1 ''Vadászszázad'', as well as [[IAR 80]]C and [[Messerschmitt Bf 109|Bf 109]]E/G of Romanian ''FARR'' 4 and 5 detached at the same base and [[Saky]] (Crimea) in a holding action against the VVS armada of 2,000 aircraft, at a time when the Axis air forces only countered with 300 operative aircraft, which were further constrained by having very small quantities of fuel, munitions and equipment available.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} On 17 January 1943, the last effective operation of ''Corpo Aereo Italiano in Russia'' occurred, when a single mixed formation of 25 surviving Macchi fighters (out of a remaining total of 30 C.200s and nine C.202s) attacked several Red Army armored and motorized infantry columns in support of German and Italian units that were encircled in Millerovo.<ref name="De Marchi p. 10">De Marchi 1994, p. 10.</ref><ref name="Cattaneo p. 7." />