The Aerfer Ariete was an the prototype of an Italian jet fighter that flew for the first time in 1958. It was a direct improvement from the Sagittario. It retained the main design features of the Sagittario II, specially the swept wings.
It was powered by two engines, the main being the same as the Sagittario, the 16,2Kn Rolls-Royce Derwent 9 as the main one, and the 8,025Kn Rolls-Royce Soar RSr-2 placed at the back, in tandem configuration. The particularity of this airplane was that this second auxiliary engine had it's own air intake that could be switched-on or off from the cockpit. This was made in order to achieve additional climbing and sprinting power.
As we already said, the prototype flew for the first time on 27th March 1958 and was armed with a pair of 30mm Hispano-Suiza HDD-825 cannons.
No production order was ensued and Aerfer decided to cancel all their fighter projects after this one. Even the much refined Aerfer Leone was cancelled before it could achieve the prototype status.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia
2. The Complete Book of Fighters
3. http://xoomer.virgilio.it/aviostoria/A/AERFER/ARIETE.htm
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