 Later in 1943, the fighter in all of its variants was used to defend northern and central Italy.Fighter pilots praised the Re.2001's handling qualities (some considered it more maneuverable than the Macchi C.202); however, like many Italian combat aircraft, the type experienced poor serviceability and many of the units using the Re.2001 were not fully equipped.The complexity of the Re.2001 design led to higher costs (in 1942, the production cost of the Re.2001 was 600,000 lire versus 520,000 lire of the Macchi C.202) and slowed production rates which also limited its effectiveness as a fighter.