List of jet aircraft of World War II

Messerschmitt Me 262, the most numerous jet fighter of World War II, in flight

This is a list of jet aircraft that were developed during the Second World War. Rockets and aircraft for which construction had not begun by the end of the war are excluded. Entries coloured in green were operational during the war. Production figures for aircraft used postwar include examples built after the war ended, of the same versions already flying during the war.

Aircraft

AircraftOrigin1st
Flight		Date
Operational		#
built		Notes
Arado Ar 234[1][2] GermanyJune 1943August 1944250+first jet bomber
Bell P-59 Airacomet[3] USOctober 1942n/a66first USAAF jet to fly; used as trainer, production cancelled
Bell XP-83[4] USFebruary 1945n/a2cancelled long-range escort fighter
Caproni Campini N.1[5] ItalyAugust 1940n/a2first Italian thermojet
Consolidated Vultee XP-81[6] USFebruary 1945n/a2cancelled mixed power fighter
de Havilland Vampire F.1[7] UKSeptember 1943March 1946244postwar production
Douglas XBTD-2 Destroyer[8][9] USMay 1944n/a2cancelled mixed power torpedo bomber
Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster USMay 1946n/a2cancelled jet bomber[notes 1]
Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg[10] GermanySeptember 1944n/a300ready for operations late 1944, not used[notes 2]
Gloster E.28/39[11] UKApril 1941n/a2Jet engine testbed and first Allied jet to fly.
Gloster Meteor F.1 & F.3[12] UKMarch 1943July 1944250First operational Allied jet fighter & first jet on jet kills (over V-1 flying bombs).
Heinkel He 162[13] GermanyDecember 1944February 1945238+lightweight interceptor
Heinkel He 178 GermanyAugust 1939n/a2Jet engine testbed and first jet aircraft to fly
Heinkel He 280 GermanySeptember 1940n/a9first jet fighter to fly, cancelled
Henschel Hs 132 Germanyn/an/a4dive bomber, captured before flown
Horten Ho 229[14] GermanyMarch 1944n/a3fighter/bomber, first jet powered flying wing
Junkers Ju 287 V-1/2/3[15] GermanyAugust 1944n/a1multi-engine bomber
Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star[16] USJanuary 1944January 1945361first operational USAAF jet fighter
McDonnell FD Phantom[17][18] USJanuary 1945July 194762postwar production, designation changed April 1946 to FH.
Messerschmitt Me 262[19] GermanyJuly 1942June 19441,433first operational jet fighter
Messerschmitt Me 328 Germany1944 (early)n/a9cancelled pulse jet fighter/bomber
Messerschmitt P.1101[20] Germanyn/an/a2captured before flown
Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250 & MiG-13[21] USSRMarch 1945n/a28mixed power thermojet fighter
Nakajima Kikka[22] JapanAugust 1945n/a1jet interceptor, similar but smaller than Me 262[notes 3]
Northrop XP-79B[23] USSeptember 1945n/a1cancelled after crash
Ryan FR Fireball[24] USJune 1944March 194566US Navy mixed power, never saw combat
Sud-Ouest Triton FranceNovember 1946n/a5developed while France under German occupation
Sukhoi Su-5[25] USSRApril 1945n/a1cancelled mixed power thermojet fighter
Yokosuka MXY7 Model 22 JapanJuly 1945n/a50kamikaze thermojet version deployed but not used[notes 4]

See Also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Was at an advanced state of development when the war ended.
  2. ↑ Manned variant of V-1 flying bomb intended for suicide attacks against ships and high value targets
  3. ↑ 22 additional Kikkas were near completion when the end of the war ended production.
  4. ↑ Jet engine powered version of rocket kamikaze "Ohka" Suicide Attacker

Citations

  1. ↑ Smith, 1984, pp.2, 8 & frontispiece
  2. ↑ Nohara, 1996, p.72
  3. ↑ Pelletier, 1992, pp.50-54
  4. ↑ Pelletier, 1992, pp.61-62
  5. ↑ Smith, 1941, p.c
  6. ↑ Ginter, 2007
  7. ↑ Harrison, 2000, pp.2, 8 & 14
  8. ↑ Kowalski, 1995, pp.42-43
  9. ↑ Francillon, 1979, pp.356-360
  10. ↑ Myhra, 2007, pp.3, 6
  11. ↑ Kershaw, 2004, pp.38, 54
  12. ↑ Butler, 2006, pp.15, 23, 26, 48 & 105
  13. ↑ Smith, 1986, pp.6, 12 & frontispiece
  14. ↑ Daprowski, 1991, pp.5
  15. ↑ Hitchcock, 1974
  16. ↑ Francillon, 1987, pp.235-243
  17. ↑ Ginter, 1981, pp.2 & 19
  18. ↑ Francillon, 1990, pp.65-67
  19. ↑ Baker, 1997, pp.7, 8, 31, 77, 111 & 128
  20. ↑ Myhra, 1999
  21. ↑ Gunston, 1999, pp.40-43
  22. ↑ Mikesh, 1979, pp.1 & 31
  23. ↑ Anderson, 1976, pp.76-78
  24. ↑ Ginter, 1995, p.3 & 45
  25. ↑ Antonov, 1996, pp.68-69

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