List of jet aircraft of World War II

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A captured Messerschmitt Me 262, the most numerous jet fighter of World War II Me 262 T-2-4012 side view on ground.jpg
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]

Contents

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

NameOriginFirst flightTypeEntered serviceNumber builtNotes
Arado Ar 234 GermanyJune 1943CombatAugust 1944210+First jet bomber but used mostly for reconnaissance. Few ever flew. Night fighter tested operationally. [5] [6]
Bell P-59 Airacomet USOctober 1942OperationalSeptember 194466First USAAF jet to fly, used as trainer only. [7]
Bell XP-83 USFebruary 1945Prototypen/a2Cancelled long-range escort fighter. [8]
Caproni Campini N.1 ItalyAugust 1940Prototypen/a2First motorjet. [9]
Consolidated Vultee XP-81 USFebruary 1945Prototypen/a2Cancelled turboprop and turbojet powered fighter. [10]
Curtiss XF15C USFebruary 1945Prototypen/a3Cancelled mixed-power fighter. [11]
de Havilland Vampire F.1UKSeptember 1943ProductionMarch 1946244Only 12 produced before VE Day; no combat service. [12]
Douglas XBTD-2 Destroyer USMay 1944Prototypen/a2Cancelled jet engine addition to conventional radial engine torpedo bomber [13] [14]
Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg GermanySeptember 1944OperationalOctober 1944300Manned version of the pulsejet powered V-1 flying bomb ready late 1944 but not used. [15]
Gloster E.28/39 UKApril 1941Prototypen/a2Engine testbed and first Allied jet to fly. [16]
Gloster Meteor F.1 & F.3 UKMarch 1943CombatJuly 1944250First operational Allied jet. First jet to down another jet aircraft (a V-1 flying bomb). [17]
Heinkel He 162 GermanyDecember 1944CombatFebruary 1945238+Cheap mass-production interceptor (Volksjaeger) for use by semi-trained pilots. Little service before war over. [18]
Heinkel He 178 GermanyAugust 1939Prototypen/a2First jet aircraft to fly [19]
Heinkel He 280 GermanySeptember 1940Prototypen/a9First jet fighter to fly, cancelled. [1]
Horten Ho 229 GermanyFebruary 1945Prototypen/a3Fighter/bomber, first jet powered flying wing. [20]
Junkers Ju 287 GermanyAugust 1944Prototypen/a1Testbed for multi-engine bomber design. [21]
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star USJanuary 1944OperationalJanuary 1945361First operational US jet fighter. Four deployed during the war, two seeing limited service in Italy, but no combat. [22]
McDonnell FD Phantom USJanuary 1945ProductionJuly 194762Postwar production, designation changed April 1946 to FH. [23] [24]
McDonnell TD2D Katydid US1942Operational1942UnknownUS Navy pulsejet-powered target drone. [25]
Messerschmitt Me 262 GermanyJuly 1942CombatJune 19441,433First operational jet fighter as fighter and fighter-bomber, with night-fighter, bomber, and reconnaissance versions trialled. [26]
Messerschmitt Me 328 Germany1944 (early)Prototypen/a9Cancelled pulsejet fighter/bomber. [27]
Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250 USSRMarch 1945Prototypen/a28Mixed-power motorjet fighter. [28]
Nakajima Kikka JapanAugust 1945Prototypen/a1 [N 2] Jet bomber inspired by Me 262. [30]
NAMU TD2N USJune 1945Prototypen/a9Target drone based on Gorgon III missile. [31]
Ryan FR Fireball USJune 1944OperationalMarch 194566US Navy mixed power fighter, never saw combat. [32]
Sukhoi Su-5 USSRApril 1945Prototypen/a1Cancelled mixed power motorjet fighter. [33]
Yakovlev Yak-7PVRD USSR1944 (late)Prototypen/a2Mixed-power ramjet fighter. [34]


See also

Related Research Articles

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This is a list of aviation-related events from 1940:

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1941:

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1939:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lockheed T2V SeaStar</span> Type of aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinkel HeS 011</span> German turbojet engine

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas BTD Destroyer</span> 1943 dive/torpedo bomber model by Douglas

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arado E.381</span> German WWII aircraft

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The Lockheed XPB-3, later designated XFM-2, was a proposed American heavy fighter aircraft, developed by the Lockheed Corporation during the mid-1930s. Intended as a heavy fighter and bomber destroyer for operation by the United States Army Air Corps, it failed to win a contract for construction of a prototype, the Bell YFM-1 Airacuda being preferred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gotha Go P.60</span> Late-WWII German flying wing fighter proposal

The Gotha Go P.60 was a jet-powered flying wing fighter proposed during World War II by Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha). It was conceived as an improved derivative of the single-seat Horten Ho 229, which Gotha had begun to manufacture as the Go 229. The initial concept a two-seat multi-role fighter that was subsequently developed into a three-seat night and all-weather fighter, but no variant was ever built.

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. 1 2 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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