List of jet aircraft of World War II

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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[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  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[edit]

  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

Bibliography[edit]

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  • Antonov, Vladimir; et al. (1996). OKB Sukhoi: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft. Leicester, England: Midland Publishing (Aerofax). ISBN 978-1857800128.
  • Baker, David (1997). Messerschmitt Me 262. Crowood Aviation Series. Wiltshire, England: Crowood Press. ISBN 978-1861260789.
  • Bishop, Chris (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II. New York: MetroBooks. ISBN 1-58663-762-2.
  • Butler, Phil; Buttler, Tony (2006). Gloster Meteor - Britain's celebrated first generation jet. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1857802306.
  • Caygill, Peter (2006). Sound Barrier: The Rocky Road to Mach 1.0+. South Yorkshire, England: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84415-456-2.
  • Daprowski, H.P. (1991). The Horten Flying Wing in World War II - The History and Development of the Ho 229. Schiffer Military History. Vol. 47. West Chester, PA: Schiffer Military History. ISBN 978-0887403576.
  • Ford, Roger (2013). Germany's Secret Weapons of World War II. London: Amber Books. ISBN 9781909160569.
  • Francillon, René J. (1987). Lockheed Aircraft since 1913. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0870218972.
  • Francillon, René J. (1979). McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920, Volume II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute press. ISBN 978-0370000503.
  • Ginter, Steve (2007). Consolidated Vultee XP-81. Air Force Legends Number 214. Simi Valley, CA: Ginter Books. ISBN 978-0-942612-87-5.
  • Ginter, Steve (1981). McDonnell FH-1 Phantom. Naval Fighters Number Three. Simi Valley CA: Ginter Books. ISBN 978-0942612035.
  • Ginter, Steve (1995). Ryan FR-1 Fireball and XF2R-1 Darkshark. Naval Fighters Number Twenty Eight. Simi Valley CA: Ginter Books. ISBN 978-0942612288.
  • Gordon, Yefim; Bill Sweetman (1992). Soviet X-planes. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International. ISBN 978-0879384982.
  • Green, William; Gordon Swanborough (1994). The Complete Book of Fighters. Godalming, England: Salamander Books. ISBN 1-85833-777-1.
  • Gunston, Bill; Yefim Gordon (1999). MiG Aircraft Since 1937. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 978-0851778846.
  • Gunston, Bill (2000). The Osprey encyclopedia of Russian aircraft. Oxford, England: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1841760964.
  • Harrison, W. A. (2000). De Havilland Vampire. Warpaint series No.27. Buckinghamshire, UK: Hall Park Books. ASIN B001PDL8RK. ISSN 1363-0369.
  • Hitchcock, Thomas H. (1974). Junkers Ju 287. Monogram Close-Up. Vol. 1. Sturbridge, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications. ISBN 978-0914144014.
  • James, Clayton D.; Anne Sharpe Wells (1995). From Pearl Harbor to V-J Day: The American Armed Forces in World War II. The American Ways Series. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee Inc. ISBN 1-56663-072-X.
  • Kershaw, Tim (2004). Jet Pioneers: Gloster and the Birth of the Jet Age. Gloucestershire, England: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0750932127.
  • Koehler, H. Dieter (1999). Ernst Heinkel – Pionier der Schnellflugzeuge (in German). Bonn, Germany: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 3-7637-6116-0.
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  • Lee, Russell (28 September 2016). "The History of Japan's First Jet Aircraft". National Air and Space Museum. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  • Leyes, Richard A.; William A. Fleming (1999). The History of North American Small Gas Turbine Aircraft Engines. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. ISBN 1-56347-332-1.
  • Mikesh, Robert C. (1979). Nakajima Kikka. Monogram Close-Up 19. Sturbridge, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications. ISBN 978-0914144199.
  • Myhra, David (2007). Fieseler Fi 103R. X Planes of the Third Reich series. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0764313981.
  • Nijboer, Donald (2015). Air Combat 1945: The Aircraft of World War II's Final Year. Stackpole Military Photo Series. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-1606-2.
  • Nohara, Shigeru; Masatsugu Shiwaku (1996). Arado Ar 234 Blitz. Aero Detail. Vol. 16. Tokyo: Dai Nippon Kaiga Co. ISBN 4499226597.
  • Pelletier, Alan J. (1992). Bell Aircraft Since 1935. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1557500564.
  • Smith, G. Geoffrey (4 December 1941). "Jet Propulsion of Aircraft". Flight Magazine. London: Aero Club of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  • Smith, J. Richard; Eddie J. Creek (1984). Arado Ar 234B. Monogram Close-Up. Vol. 23. Sturbridge, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications. ISBN 978-0914144236.
  • Smith, J. Richard; Eddie J. Creek (1986). Heinkel He 162 Volksjager. Monogram Close-Up. Vol. 11. Sturbridge, Massachusetts: Monogram Aviation Publications. ISBN 978-0914144113.
  • Yenne, Bill (2006). Secret Gadgets and Strange Gizmos: High-Tech (and Low-Tech) Innovations of the U.S. Military. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press. ISBN 978-0760321157.
  • Zabecki, David T. (1999). World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia. Military History of the United States. Vol. 6. Abdington-on-Thames, England: Routledge. ISBN 978-0824070298.
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