Developed from the highly effective MC.202, the Macchi MC.205 Veltro (Greyhound) was one of the finest aircraft used by the Regia Aeronautica during the war. The success of the MC.205 lay by mating the airframe of the MC.202 with the more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 605 inline engine giving it a top speed of 400 mph. As was the case with most great Italian fighters, it arrived too late to have an influence and only served briefly and in limited numbers with the Regia Aeronautica though surviving aircraft served on both sides after the surrender (particularly with the Axis). The Veltro also solved the chronic firepower problem of Italian fighters by including two 20-mm cannon giving it not only the agility but the punch to stand up against most Allied aircraft of the period. After the war, the Veltro was readopted in Italy and a number were exported to Egypt, some of which saw combat against Israel in 1948.

The prototype MC.205 first flew on 19 April 1942 and entered service exactly one year later as the MC.205V seeing combat over Sicily and southern Italy before the surrender. Production continued after the war, with the last MC.205V rolling out of the production lines as late as 1948. A substantially improved development, the MC.205N Orione (Orion) reached prototype stage, these had heavier armament, longer high aspect ratio wings and a redesigned forward fuselage but were never produced.