In 1935 the Regia Aeronautica was looking for a new generation of fighter planes in view of rearmament for a possible new great war, and the air force had various planes competing with each other as a possible new fighter. Fiat Aviazione, one of the large aircraft suppliers at the time, proposed the Fiat C.R.33, an enhanced version of the Fiat C.R.32, and the Fiat C.R.40 (together with its brother the C.R.40bis). The C.R.40 had its first flight in 1934 and despite its engine change it remained rather slow, but had the advantage of a short nose which significantly increased the pilot’s visibility. Furthermore, it was a biplane, which was gradually being replaced by faster even if less manoeuvrable monoplane aircraft, and had lower performance than the previous Fiat C.R.32. The plane was eventually scrapped to salvage what was possible, however the knowledge acquired with these aircraft was used for the creation of the famous Fiat C.R.42.
Like most Italian fighters of the period, the C.R.40 was armed with two 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns located in the nose of the aircraft synchronized with the propeller. The number of ammunition stowed was of 600. The aircraft was powered by a 525 hp Bristol Mercury IV A engine (made by Alfa Romeo), which pushed the aircraft up to a maximum speed of 377 km/h and a ceiling of 9.600 m.
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