Right side view of aMesserschmitt 262 jet fighter captured by the United States Army Air Forces on the ground.
A captured Messerschmitt Me 262, the most numerous jet fighter of World War II

World War II was the first war in which jet aircraft participated in combat with examples being used on both sides of the conflict during the latter stages of the war. The first successful jet aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, flew only five days before the 1 September 1939 start of the war.[1] By the end of the conflict on 2 September 1945[2] Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States all had operational turbojet-powered fighter aircraft while Japan had produced, but not used, motorjet-powered kamikaze aircraft, and had tested and ordered into production conventional jets. Italy and the Soviet Union had both tested motorjet aircraft which had turbines powered by piston engines and the latter had also equipped several types of conventional piston-powered fighter aircraft with auxiliary ramjet engines for testing purposes. Germany was the only country to use jet-powered bombers operationally during the war.[3]

This list includes only aircraft powered by turbine engines, either on their own or as part of mixed-power arrangements. Rocket-powered aircraft are not included, nor are aircraft that only flew following the end of the war.[N 1] Aircraft which were designed but not constructed are also excluded. Production figures for aircraft used postwar include examples built after the war ended, of the same versions already flying during the war.

Aircraft

Name Origin First flight Type Entered service Number built Notes
Arado Ar 234 Germany June 1943 Combat August 1944 210+ First jet bomber but used mostly for reconnaissance. Few ever flew. Night fighter tested operationally.[5][6]
Bell P-59 Airacomet US October 1942 Operational September 1944 66 First USAAF jet to fly, used as trainer only.[7]
Bell XP-83 US February 1945 Prototype n/a 2 Cancelled long-range escort fighter.[8]
Caproni Campini N.1 Italy August 1940 Prototype n/a 2 First motorjet.[9]
Consolidated Vultee XP-81 US February 1945 Prototype n/a 2 Cancelled turboprop and turbojet powered fighter.[10]
Curtiss XF15C US February 1945 Prototype n/a 3 Cancelled mixed-power fighter.[11]
de Havilland Vampire F.1 UK September 1943 Production March 1946 244 Only 12 produced before VE Day; no combat service.[12]
Douglas XBTD-2 Destroyer US May 1944 Prototype n/a 2 Cancelled jet engine addition to conventional radial engine torpedo bomber[13][14]
Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg Germany September 1944 Operational October 1944 300 Manned version of the pulsejet powered V-1 flying bomb ready late 1944 but not used.[15]
Gloster E.28/39 UK April 1941 Prototype n/a 2 Engine testbed and first Allied jet to fly.[16]
Gloster Meteor F.1 & F.3 UK March 1943 Combat July 1944 250 First operational Allied jet. First jet to down another jet aircraft (a V-1 flying bomb).[17]
Heinkel He 162 Germany December 1944 Combat February 1945 238+ Cheap mass-production interceptor (Volksjaeger) for use by semi-trained pilots. Little service before war over.[18]
Heinkel He 178 Germany August 1939 Prototype n/a 2 First jet aircraft to fly[19]
Heinkel He 280 Germany September 1940 Prototype n/a 9 First jet fighter to fly, cancelled.[1]
Horten Ho 229 Germany February 1945 Prototype n/a 3 Fighter/bomber, first jet powered flying wing.[20]
Junkers Ju 287 Germany August 1944 Prototype n/a 1 Testbed for multi-engine bomber design.[21]
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star US January 1944 Operational January 1945 361 First operational US jet fighter. Four deployed during the war, two seeing limited service in Italy, but no combat.[22]
McDonnell FD Phantom US January 1945 Production July 1947 62 Postwar production, designation changed April 1946 to FH.[23][24]
McDonnell TD2D Katydid US 1942 Operational 1942 Unknown US Navy pulsejet-powered target drone.[25]
Messerschmitt Me 262 Germany July 1942 Combat June 1944 1,433 First operational jet fighter as fighter and fighter-bomber, with night-fighter, bomber, and reconnaissance versions trialled.[26]
Messerschmitt Me 328 Germany 1944 (early) Prototype n/a 9 Cancelled pulsejet fighter/bomber.[27]
Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250 USSR March 1945 Prototype n/a 28 Mixed-power motorjet fighter.[28]
Nakajima Kikka Japan August 1945 Prototype n/a 1[N 2] Jet bomber inspired by Me 262.[30]
NAMU TD2N US June 1945 Prototype n/a 9 Target drone based on Gorgon III missile.[31]
Ryan FR Fireball US June 1944 Operational March 1945 66 US Navy mixed power fighter, never saw combat.[32]
Sukhoi Su-5 USSR April 1945 Prototype n/a 1 Cancelled mixed power motorjet fighter.[33]
Yakovlev Yak-7PVRD USSR 1944 (late) Prototype n/a 2 Mixed-power ramjet fighter.[34]


See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ For instance, the first French jet aircraft, the Sud-Ouest Triton, was clandestinely designed during the German occupation of France, but was not constructed and flown until after the end of the war.[4]
  2. ^ 23 additional Kikkas were near completion when the end of the war ended production.[29]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Bishop, 2002, p.321
  2. ^ James, 1995, p.188
  3. ^ Zabecki, 1999, p.868
  4. ^ Caygill, 2006, p.136
  5. ^ Smith, 1984, pp.2, 8 & frontispiece
  6. ^ Nohara, 1996, p.72
  7. ^ Pelletier, 1992, pp.50–54
  8. ^ Pelletier, 1992, pp.61–62
  9. ^ Smith, 1941, p.c
  10. ^ Ginter, 2007, pp.22–23.
  11. ^ Green, 1994, p.143-144
  12. ^ Harrison, 2000, pp.2, 8 & 14
  13. ^ Kowalski, 1995, pp.42–43
  14. ^ Francillon, 1979, pp.356–360
  15. ^ Myhra, 2007, pp.3, 6
  16. ^ Kershaw, 2004, pp.38, 54
  17. ^ Butler, 2006, pp.15, 23, 26, 48 & 105
  18. ^ Smith, 1986, pp.6, 12 & frontispiece
  19. ^ Koehler, 1999, p.173
  20. ^ Daprowski, 1991, pp.5
  21. ^ Hitchcock, 1974
  22. ^ Francillon, 1987, pp.235–243
  23. ^ Ginter, 1981, pp.2 & 19
  24. ^ Francillon, 1990, pp.65–67
  25. ^ Yenne 2006, p.25
  26. ^ Baker, 1997, pp.7, 8, 31, 77, 111 & 128
  27. ^ Ford, 2013, p. 224
  28. ^ Gunston, 1999, pp.40–43
  29. ^ Lee, 2016
  30. ^ Mikesh, 1979, pp.1 & 31
  31. ^ Leyes, 1999, p.42
  32. ^ Ginter, 1995, p.3 & 45
  33. ^ Antonov, 1996, pp.68–69
  34. ^ Gordon, 1992, p.35

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