How The WWII USAAF P-80 Shooting Star Influenced Modern American Jet Fighters

For the United States Army Air Force (later US Air Force), the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first of its kind – it was the first American fighter jet used operationally. Germany and Great Britain led the race to develop jet fighters in WWII, fielding them before the end of the war. The US and Japan were nearly fielding them by the war’s end (the USSR was far behind). The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 but did not see combat in WWII.