Every World War 2 Military Jet Ever Made

Описание: World War II did not belong to jets — but jets were born inside it.

This video documents every military jet aircraft developed during World War II, from fragile technology demonstrators to desperate late-war interceptors and mixed-propulsion stopgaps. These aircraft did not win the war. Most barely flew long enough to matter.

The timeline begins with the Heinkel He 178, the first turbojet aircraft in history, proving jet propulsion was possible but not yet practical. Early prototypes like the He 280, Gloster E.28/39, and Caproni Campini N1 established competing approaches to jet development while engineers struggled with metallurgy, fuel systems, and compressor design.

Operational aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Me 262, Arado Ar 234, and Gloster Meteor demonstrated jet combat capability — but engine life measured in hours, fuel shortages, and pilot training gaps limited their strategic impact. Late-war emergency designs like the He 162 Volksjäger, Horten Ho 229, and Nakajima Kikka reflected industrial desperation rather than sustainable doctrine.

Other projects — including the Bell P-59, P-80 Shooting Star, Ryan FR-1 Fireball, Ta 183, and Messerschmitt P.1101 — marked transitional thinking as nations realized piston aircraft were obsolete but lacked time to mature jet technology.

This is not a ranking of performance.
It is a structural look at how jet aviation emerged under wartime pressure — rushed, fragile, politically contested, and often too late to change the outcome.

World War II ended.
The jet age did not.

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