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The '''Messerschmitt Me 262''', nicknamed '''''Schwalbe''''' (German: "[[Swallow]]") in fighter versions, or '''''Sturmvogel''''' (German: "[[Procellariidae|Storm Bird]]") in fighter-bomber versions, is a [[fighter aircraft]] and [[fighter-bomber]] that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer [[Messerschmitt]]. It was the world's first operational [[Jet aircraft|jet-powered]] fighter aircraft and "the only jet fighter to see air-to-air combat in World War Two".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/messerschmitt-me-262a-2a-schwalbe-swallow/|title=Messerschmitt Me 262A-2a Schwalbe (Swallow)|date=14 April 2014|work=RAF Museum |access-date=17 May 2024|quote=Small numbers of Me 262 fighters and fighter bombers were used operationally by the Luftwaffe from mid 1944.}}</ref>
The design of what would become the Me 262 started in April 1939, before [[World War II]]. It made its [[maiden flight]] on 18 April 1941 with a [[Reciprocating engine|piston engine]], and its first jet-powered flight on 18 July 1942. Progress was delayed by problems with engines, [[metallurgy]], and interference from [[Luftwaffe]] chief [[Hermann Göring]] and [[Adolf Hitler]]. The German leader demanded that the Me 262, conceived as a defensive interceptor, be redesigned as [[Ground-attack aircraft|ground-attack]]/[[bomber]] aircraft. The aircraft became operational with the Luftwaffe in mid-1944. The Me 262 was faster and more heavily armed than any [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] fighter, including the British jet-powered [[Gloster Meteor]].{{sfn|Gunston|1988|p=240}} The Allies countered by attacking the aircraft on the ground and during takeoff and landing.
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