The ISVA was the floatplane variant of the SVA.5. It was the ansaldo's response to the DTAM's (Aeronautical Command HQ) decision that the company should confine itself to build seaplanes. The idea was first conceived in February 1917 and by May, Ansaldo enlisted the Maggiore (Major) Alessandro Guidoni to design the floats.
It was first tested in Venice in December 1917 and it was soon followed by a second official series, which change the series name from ISVA to Am (which stands for Ansaldo marino - Naval Ansaldo) in January-February 1918. The naval pilots found it often to be heavy, and difficult to maneouvre both in the air and when taxiing on water.
Some of them served embarked in the seaplane tender Europa during 1918 for operational testing purposes.
A second batch of airplanes were made and these featured some floaters copied and modified from the Sopwith Baby, derived from the Ansaldo's experience in building the Baby under license. However it is not known if those exemplars performed better or not because there's not handling information about them.
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