Ordered for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army as a replacement for the earlier C.V bomber, the Fokker C.X was originally intended to have significant export success which in the event did not materialize due to strong competition from other similar designs. Still, the C.X was widely employed in the East Indies as well as the Luchtvaartafdeling (LVA) at home while the sole export customer was Finland which built almost half of all aircraft locally. Finnish units were more advanced than their Dutch counterparts, featuring a more powerful Pegasus engine, enclosed and heated cockpits, and capability for operating with wheels or skids. The few servicable Dutch C.Xs performed bombing, attack, and recon missions against the Germans after the invasion where all were destroyed. Finnish units were used from the Winter War onwards, but especially against the Germans in 1944-45. The last was retired in 1958.

First flown sometime in 9 October 1934, the C.X was first delivered to the Dutch in 1935 and Finland two years later. No variants existed other than the afore-mentioned engine and equipment differences in each version. Finnish versions were built by the State Aircraf factory at Tampere.