All the countries that took an active part in World War II had a certain backlog in the development of jet aircraft before it began. During the war, efforts to create jet combat aviation did not stop. But their accomplishments pale in comparison to the scale at which the Wehrmacht's WWII jets were produced.
Pre-war groundwork
Jet propulsion has always attracted the attention of gunsmiths. The use of powder rockets goes back to ancient times. The advent of aircraft capable of controlled flight immediately led to the desire to combine this innovation with the capabilities of jet propulsion. The desire to provide military potential at an advanced technological level was most clearly reflected in the scientific and technological policy of the Reich. Restrictions imposed by Versaillestreaty, deprived Germany of fifteen years of evolutionary improvement of military equipment and forced to search for revolutionary solutions. Therefore, immediately after the Reich abandoned military restrictions and the creation of the Luftwaffe, the head of scientific programs Richthofen in 1934 was tasked with creating a German jet aircraft of the Second World War. By its beginning, only the British managed to make a technological breakthrough by creating a prototype turbojet engine. But they owe this not to technical foresight, but to the perseverance of the inventor F. Whittle, who invested his own funds in it.
Prototypes and Samples
The outbreak of war had a different impact on jet aviation development programs. The British, realizing their vulnerability to air threats, took the development of a new type of combat aircraft quite seriously. Based on the Whittle engine, they tested the prototype in April 1941, from which the British jets of the Second World War began. The Soviet Union, which had a weak technological base, lost and evacuated part of its industry, conducted rather sluggish experiments with rocket and low-power jet engines, which were more of an educational interest. The Americans and Japanese, despite great opportunities, did not advance much from the same level. Their World War II jets were based on foreign designs. Already at the very beginning of the war, Germany began to create flying prototypes of serial machines and work out the operation of realcombat aircraft. In the spring of 1941, the Henkel He-178 jet took off, equipped with two HeS-8A turbojet engines, which developed thrust up to six hundred kilograms. In the summer of 1942, the first German jet aircraft of the Second World War, the twin-engine Messerschmitt Me-262, flew, showing excellent handling and reliability.
First episodes
The first mass-produced jet aircraft of the Second World War, which entered service, were the Messerschmitt Me-262 and the English Gloster Meteor. There is a legend that the delay in the release of the jet "Messerschmitt" is connected with the whims of Hitler, who wanted to see him as a fighter-bomber. Having started the production of this machine, in 1944 the Germans produced more than 450 aircraft. In 1945, production amounted to about 500 aircraft. The Germans also put into series and began mass production of the Non-162, considered by the command as a mobilization fighter for the Volkssturm. The third type of jet fighter that participated in the war was the Arado Ar-234. Before the end of the war, they produced 200 units. The scope of the British was noticeably weaker. The entire military series of Gloucesters was limited to 210 vehicles. Jet aircraft of the Second World War of the USA and Japan developed on the transferred technologies of England and Germany and were limited to experimental series.
Combat use
Combat experienceonly the Germans managed to get the use of jet aircraft. Their planes tried to solve the problem of defending the country from an enemy with overwhelming air superiority. The English jets of the Second World War, although they were used over the territory of Germany and in the defense of England against German cruise missiles, had only a few combat episodes. They were mainly used as training. The Soviet Union did not have time to create jet aircraft of the Second World War. The USSR actively developed trophy groundwork based on its own rich military experience.
