This is one of two known Caproni bombers remaining from WWI. The property of the Caproni family, the aircraft was retired to the Museo Caproni in 1934. There it remained until the later days of WWII, when it and several other aircraft in the collection were disassembled and stored in an abandoned monastery on the family estate near Milan. In 1987 it was loaned to the NMUSAF and transferred into their ownership in 1994. Apart from the Italian Army, original and licence-built examples were used by France and the the American Expeditionary Force

During WWI Italian aeronautical engineer Gianni Caproni developed a series of multi-engine heavy bombers that played a key role in the Allied strategic bombing campaign. His bombers were produced not only in Italy but also in France, Great Britain and the US. Toward the end of the war the definitive version, the Ca. 36, went into production with Ca. 36s remaining in Italian AF service as late as 1929. The NMUSAF obtained this example from the Museo Aeronautica Caproni di Taliedo in Italy in 1987.