<P> The plans for the first operational jet fighter , the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe were drawn up in 1939 , and the airplane first flew under jet power in 1942 . The Me 262 was not operational until 1944 , and its effectiveness was crippled by the deteriorating infrastructure of Nazi Germany ; the advanced materials needed for its engines were in short supply . Although the Me 262 is often classified as an early straight - wing design , it actually incorporates some features of a slightly `` swept wing '' design , as it had a leading edge sweep of only 18.5 ° , too slight to achieve any significant advantage in increasing the critical Mach number , the speed at which it can fly without encountering control problems due to compressibility . Sweep was added after the initial design of the aircraft for balance reasons , when the engines proved heavier than originally expected , primarily to position the center of lift properly relative to the center of mass . There was originally a 35 ° sweep , proposed by Adolph Busemann , which was not adopted . Despite its late - war debut into production , the winner of Nazi Germany 's Volksjäger light fighter competition , the Heinkel He 162 A Spatz . was just about to enter service with the Luftwaffe 's JG 1 and even the specialist unit JV 44 at the war 's end , but only very isolated engagements with Allied combat aircraft -- with JG 1 losing 13 He 162As during April 1945 , ten to operational losses not involving combat ( the design was still going through its evaluation period ) and only a pair of actual losses of He 162As from aerial combat . 320 examples of the He 162A were completed by the war 's end , with hundreds more incomplete He 162A airframes in the process of manufacture . </P>
<P> The plans for the first operational jet fighter , the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe were drawn up in 1939 , and the airplane first flew under jet power in 1942 . The Me 262 was not operational until 1944 , and its effectiveness was crippled by the deteriorating infrastructure of Nazi Germany ; the advanced materials needed for its engines were in short supply . Although the Me 262 is often classified as an early straight - wing design , it actually incorporates some features of a slightly `` swept wing '' design , as it had a leading edge sweep of only 18.5 ° , too slight to achieve any significant advantage in increasing the critical Mach number , the speed at which it can fly without encountering control problems due to compressibility . Sweep was added after the initial design of the aircraft for balance reasons , when the engines proved heavier than originally expected , primarily to position the center of lift properly relative to the center of mass . There was originally a 35 ° sweep , proposed by Adolph Busemann , which was not adopted . Despite its late - war debut into production , the winner of Nazi Germany 's Volksjäger light fighter competition , the Heinkel He 162 A Spatz . was just about to enter service with the Luftwaffe 's JG 1 and even the specialist unit JV 44 at the war 's end , but only very isolated engagements with Allied combat aircraft -- with JG 1 losing 13 He 162As during April 1945 , ten to operational losses not involving combat ( the design was still going through its evaluation period ) and only a pair of actual losses of He 162As from aerial combat . 320 examples of the He 162A were completed by the war 's end , with hundreds more incomplete He 162A airframes in the process of manufacture . </P>
when were the first jets used in war
when were the first jets used in war
1944
1944