Starting in 1942, the situation for the S.M.79 Sparviero bombers changed significantly. Opposing Italian fighters became faster and more heavily armed, resulting in heavy losses for the Regia Aeronautica. The S.M.79 had already proven effective as a torpedo bomber since 1940, so in 1942, it was decided to discontinue pure bomber variants and shift production toward torpedo bomber configurations. The S.M.79 bis/T.M. was a field modification of the aircraft; the T.M. designation stood for "totalmente modificato", which is Italian for "fully modified". In 1943, the aircraft of the 132 Gruppo were upgraded. The under-fuselage gondola was removed, and a 700-liter fuel tank was installed in place of the bombs to increase range. Cockpit armor protection and protection for gunner positions were also added. The two 7.7 mm machine guns were replaced with 12.7 mm Breda-SAFAT machine guns. From 1936 to 1944, a total of 1,458 S.M.79 aircraft of all variants were built.

The Italian S.M.79 bis/T.M. has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27 as a part of the German aircraft research tree. Compared to its predecessor, the S.M.79 bis/T.M features armor protection for the cockpit and radio-gunner positions, which significantly improves crew survivability. However, the increased weight slightly reduces flight performance. The 7.7 mm machine guns were replaced with 12.7 mm Breda-SAFATs, which increased the aircraft's defensive firepower. However, the removal of the under-fuselage gondola also meant losing the 12.7 mm machine gun mounted there, leaving the lower rear hemisphere unprotected. The S.M.79 bis/T.M remains a versatile aircraft capable of effectively destroying ground and naval targets in air and combined battles.