Among the most significant aircraft in aviation history, the Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) became the first jet-powered aircraft to enter combat, though it was not the first jet aircraft to fly.

The project began in 1938 when Messerschmitt was called upon to design a new fighter to be powered by two gas turbine engines. The configuration eventually chosen featured a sleek streamlined fuselage with the two podded engines carried beneath a low-mounted wing. Although the airframe was ready to fly by 1941, the B.M.W. engines were suffering prolonged development delays and the first flight was accomplished with a piston engine in the nose.

Early flights confirmed the good handling characteristics of the Me 262 and allowed other systems to be tested until the jet engines were finally ready a year later. Being conservative, the designers retained the piston engine as a backup, and with good result. On the first flight, the Me 262 had barely become airborne using all three engines when both jets failed, but the piston engine provided just enough power for a safe landing. Although the Me 262 project was delayed to some degree by the indifference of Luftwaffe leaders and Adolf Hitler's insistence that the aircraft be used as a bomber (the Me 262A-2a Sturmvogel (Stormbird) variant), it was these engine development problems that provided the greatest impediment to the program. However, Junkers had finally developed engines of sufficient power and reliability by late 1943 to make the new fighter feasible.

The Luftwaffe began committing the remarkable Me 262A-1a to combat in mid-1944 when they were pitted against the columns of heavy bombers making daily raids on German cities and military targets. Despite being well-armed with 30-mm cannons and air-to-air rockets, the Me 262 was simply too little too late to turn the tide of war in Germany's favor. Maintaining production was difficult due to Allied attacks on industrial centers, many aircraft were destroyed on the ground, and several were shot down due to poor pilot training and both the superior numbers and maneuverability of Allied piston aircraft. Some 1,430 total aircraft were built, though only about 300 ever saw combat, and many survivors were used by the victorious Allies to help jumpstart the blossoming jet age.

Messerschmitt Me 262 was the world's first operational jet fighter to go into armed sorties against allied fighter planes. When it entered service in the Autumn of 1944, its high performance in air battles over Nazi Germany caused great concern to the Allies.