Macchi C.200 - Native users

The Macchi C.200 was an Italian fighter airplane that saw service with Italian Regia Aeronautica in every front that Italy was involved during the World War II.
It saw combat first defending Italian homeland, as we explained before and then during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, it setted up a good rate destroying 20 enemy machines at the lost of a single one.
In the North African theatre, it wasn't well received at first because pilots preferred the highly maneouvrable Fiat Cr.42 biplane. However, when the first unit in Libya was equipped with C.200s, it proved to be superior to the Gloster Gladiator and a serious contender against the Hawker Hurricane and the Curtiss P-40 because it could outrun both of them and it enjoyed an good sturdy fuselage, even if it was seriously underarmed. When operating as a fighter-bomber, it manage to sink British destroyers HMS Zulu and HMS Sikh off the coast of Tobruk during the operation Agreement.
It served also in the Eastern Front, serving with the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia, in two squadrons. Together with the more advanced Macchi C.202, they claimed a ratio of victory/loss of 88 to 15. Overall, in the Eastern Front, they behaved well, flying the respectable number of 2557 missions, of which 511 with bomb drops, 1310 strafing attacks, 1938 escort missions with the loss of just 15 machines.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_C.200
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters