This proved to be underpowered and was superseded by the MS.221, which used the same basic airframe and armament with a 30% power increase, provided by a 450 kW (600 hp) Gnome-Rhône 9Ae Jupiter nine-cylinder radial engine.

[1] The MS.222 climbed faster than the MS.221 but was still slow at altitude, so a further aerodynamic clean-up in 1930 replaced the cross-axle undercarriage inherited from the MS.121 with a split-axle design, resulting in the MS.223 which first flew in April 1930.

Narrow-chord ailerons occupied the entire trailing edge; as well as the normal, differential action for lateral control they could be operated together as camber-increasing flaps for landing.

The front of the single, open cockpit was under the trailing edge behind a pair of fuselage-mounted Vickers or Darne machine guns firing through the propeller disc.

The tailplane, mounted at mid-fuselage and swept in plan, was in-flight adjustable, with split, unbalanced elevators which were narrow and had constant chord.

[2][4] In place of the cross-axle and its support, the MS.223 had simpler longitudinal V-struts, and each wheel had a vertical shock absorber leg to a reinforced forward wing strut.