Post War Jet Fighters

[Arlo]

The 'PWJ' (post war jet) arena.

Post WWII jet fighters (including those developed during the war that never saw air to air dog fighting with enemy aircraft during WWII). These would also be gun equipped with such as their main armament. :

Dassault Ouragan - France



First flight   28 February 1948
Introduction 1952
Produced   1948-1954
Number built Over 567

Guns: 4× 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon with 125 rounds per gun
Rockets: 16× 105 mm (4.1 in) Brandt T-10 air-to-ground unguided rockets; or, 2× Matra rocket pods with 18× SNEB 68 mm rockets each
Bombs: 2,270 kg (5,004 lb)) of payload on four external hardpoints, including a variety of unguided iron bombs such as 2× 227 kg (500 lb) bombs or 2× 458 l (121 US gal; 101 imp gal) napalm bombs / Drop tanks for extended range.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Ouragan

de Havilland Vampire - United Kingdom



First flight   20 September 1943
Introduction 1946
Number built 3,268

Guns: 4 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano Mk.V cannon with 600 rounds total (150 rounds per gun).
Rockets: 8 × 3-inch "60 lb" rockets
Bombs: 2 × 500 lb (225 kg) bombs or two drop-tanks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Vampire

Hawker Sea Hawk - United Kingdom



First flight   2 September 1947
Introduction March 1953
Royal Netherlands Navy (retired)
Number built 542

Guns: 4 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Hispano Mk.V cannon with 200 rpg
Hardpoints: 6 underwing with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: 20 × RP-3 "60 lb" (27 kg) unguided rockets or 16 × 5 in (127 mm) unguided rockets
Bombs: 4 × 500 lb (227 kg) bombs
Other:  or 2 × 90 imp gal (108 US gal; 409 l) drop-tanks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Sea_Hawk

Supermarine Attacker - United Kingdom



First flight   27 July 1946
Introduction August 1951
Number built 182 + 3 prototypes

Guns: 4 × Hispano No. 3 Mark 5 20mm Cannon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Attacker

Supermarine Swift - United Kingdom



First flight   29 December 1948 (Type 510)
Introduction 1954
Number built 197

Guns: 2 × 30 mm (1.181 in) ADEN cannon
Rockets: provisions for rockets
Bombs: provisions for bombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Swift

Bell P-59 Airacomet - United States



First flight   1 October 1942
Number built 66

1x 37 mm M10 autocannon with 44 rounds of ammunition
3x .50 cal (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning heavy machine guns with 200 rounds per gun
Rockets: 8× 60 lb (30 kg) rockets
Bombs: 2,000 lb (910 kg) bombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_P-59_Airacomet

Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star - United States



First flight   8 January 1944
Introduction 1945
Number built 1,715

Guns: 6 × 0.50 in (12.7mm) M3 Browning machine guns (300 rpg)
Rockets: 8 × 127 mm (5.00 in) HVAR unguided rockets
Bombs: 2 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_P-80_Shooting_Star

McDonnell FH Phantom - United States



First flight   26 January 1945
Introduction August 1947
Number built 62

Guns: 4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns
Rockets: 8 × 5 in (127 mm) High Velocity Aircraft Rockets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_FH_Phantom

Ryan FR Fireball - United States



First flight   25 June 1944
Introduction March 1945
Number built 71

Guns: 4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun with 300 rpg
Rockets: 8 × 5-inch (127 mm) rockets under wings
Bombs: 2 × 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_FR_Fireball

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 - Soviet Union



First flight   24 April 1946
Produced 1946–1948
Number built 598 (including 12 prototypes)

1 × 37 mm (1.457 in) Nudelman N-37 autocannon extending from nose intake divider
2 × 23 mm (0.906 in) Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 autocannon extending from undersides of nose intake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-9

Yakovlev Yak-15 - Soviet Union



First flight   24 April 1946
Introduction 1947
Produced 1946–47
Number built 280

Guns: 2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannon with 60 rounds each

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-15

Yakovlev Yak-17 - Soviet Union



First flight   June 1947
Introduction 1948
Produced 1948–1949
Number built 430

Guns: 2 × 23 mm (0.91 in) Nudelman-Suranov NS-23K autocannon with 105 rounds per gun

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-17

Grumman F9F Panther - United States



First flight   21 November 1947
Retired 1958, U.S. Navy
           1969, Argentina
Number built 1,382

Guns: 4 × 20 mm cannon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_F9F_Panther

Republic F-84 Thunderjet - United States



First flight   28 February 1946
Introduction November 1947
Retired 1964 (USAF)
           1974 (Yugoslavia)
Number built 7,524

6 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M3 Browning machine guns, 300 rpg
Up to 4,450 lb (2,020 kg) of rockets and bombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_F-84_Thunderjet

Republic F-84F Thunderstreak - United States



First flight   June 3, 1950
Introduction May 12, 1954
Retired 1972 (US ANG)
           1991 (Greece)

6× .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning M3 machine guns, four mounted in nose over intake, two mounted in the wing roots, 1,800 rounds
Up to 6,000lb (2,727 kg) of rockets and bombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_F-84F_Thunderstreak

Dassault Mystère - France



First flight   23 February 1951
Introduction 1954
Retired 1963 (France)

Guns: 2× 30 mm (1.181 in) DEFA cannon with 150 rounds per gun
Rockets: 2× Matra rocket pods with 18× 68 mm (2.68 in) SNEB rockets each
Bombs: 900 kg (2,000 lb) of payload on four external hardpoints, including a variety of bombs or Drop tanks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Myst%C3%A8re

Dassault Mystère IV - France



First flight   28 September 1952
Produced 1953–1958
Number built 411

Guns: 2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons with 150 rounds per gun
Rockets: 55 air-to-air rockets in retractable pack[16]
Bombs: 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of payload on four external hardpoints, including a variety of bombs, rockets or Drop tanks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Myst%C3%A8re_IV

Saab 21R - Sweden



First flight   10 March 1947
Introduction 1950
Retired 1956

1× 20 mm akan m/45 with 140 rounds in the nose
2x 12.7 mm (0.50 in) akan m/39A with 350 rpg in the nose
2x 12.7 mm (0.50 in) akan m/39A with 325 rpg in the wings
(The J 21RA had 13.2 mm barrels installed on its akan m/39A's but these were changed to 12.7 mm once they were converted to A 21RA)

Belly 700 kg (1,543 lb) maximum

Vapenkapsel paddan "the toad" gunpod containing 8x 8 mm ksp m/22 machine guns with 800 rounds per gun
10x 8 cm pansarraket m/46 AP-rocket (RP-3 rocket with Shot, 25 lb., "AP" Mk II head)
10x 15 cm sprängraket m/46 HE-rocket (RP-3 rocket with Shell, H.E. 60 lb., "SAP" No. 2 Mk Ihead)
10x 14,5 cm pansarsprängraket m/49A & B HEAT-rocket (Bofors 10.3 cm rocket with 14,5 cm HEAT head)
10x 15 cm sprängraket m/51A & B HE-rocket (Bofors 10.3 cm rocket with 15 cm HE head)
5x 18 cm halvpansarraket m/49A & B SAP-rocket (Bofors 18 cm rocket with 18 cm APHE head. At the start used primarily against ships but in the end against basically everything else.)

Wingtips

2x vingspetstank drop tanks (Could be armed in flight as incendiary bombs. They were also tested with napalm.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_21R

[Arlo]

North American F-86 Sabre - United States



First flight   1 October 1947
Introduction 1949, with USAF
Retired 1965 (USAF)
           1994 (Bolivia)

Guns: 6 X 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M3 Browning machine guns (1,800 rounds in total)

Rockets: variety of rocket launchers; e.g.: 2 Matra rocket pods with 18 SNEB 68 mm rockets per pod

Bombs: 5,300 lb (2,400 kg) of payload on four external hardpoints, bombs were usually mounted on outer two pylons as the inner pairs were plumbed for 2 200 US gallons (760 L) drop tanks which gave the Sabre a more useful range. A wide variety of bombs could be carried (max standard loadout being two 1,000 lb bombs plus two drop tanks)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-86_Sabre

North American FJ-1 Fury - United States



First flight   11 September 1946
Introduction October 1947
Number built 33 (including prototypes)

Guns: 6 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (1,500 rounds in total)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_FJ-1_Fury

North American FJ-2/-3 Fury - United States



First flight   27 December 1951
Introduction 1954
Retired September 1962
Number built 741

Guns: 4 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Colt Mk 12 cannon with 150 rpg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_FJ-2/-3_Fury

North American FJ-4 Fury - United States



First flight   28 October 1954
Retired late 1960s
Number built 374

Guns: 4 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Colt Mk 12 cannon (144 rpg, 578 rounds in total)

Rockets: 6 × LAU-3/A 70mm rocket pods

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_FJ-4_Fury

McDonnell F2H Banshee - United States



First flight 11 January 1947
Introduction August 1948
Retired 30 September 1959 USN
1959 USMC
1960 USN, USMC (F2H-2P)
1961 USNR, USMCR
12 September 1962 RCN
Number built 895

4 × 20 mm (0.787 in) Colt Mk 12 cannon, 220 rounds/gun (upper pair), 250 rounds/gun (lower pair)[44]
8 × 60 lb (27 kg) High Explosive rockets
or
6 × 500 lb (230 kg) bombs and 2 × 60 lb (27 kg) H.E. rockets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F2H_Banshee

McDonnell F3H Demon - United States



First flight   7 August 1951
Introduction 7 March 1956
Retired 1964
Number built 519

Guns: 4x 20 mm (0.787 in) Colt Mk 12 cannon with 150 rpg
Missiles: 4x AIM-7 Sparrow or 4x AIM-9 Sidewinder
Bombs: 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) of bombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_F3H_Demon

Grumman F-9 Cougar - United States



First flight   20 September 1951
Introduction December 1952
Retired 1974, US Navy
Number built 1,988

Guns: 4 × 20 mm (0.79 in) AN/M3 cannon, 190 rounds per gun
Rockets: 6 × 5 in (127 mm) rockets
Bombs: 2 × 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs on inboard pylons plus 2 x 500 lb (227 kg) bombs on outer pylons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_F-9_Cougar

Vought F7U Cutlass - United States



First flight   29 September 1948
Introduction July 1951
Retired 2 March 1959
Produced 1948–1955
Number built 320

Guns: 4 20mm M3 cannon above inlet ducts, 180 rpg
Hardpoints: 4 with a capacity of 5,500 lb (2,500 kg),with provisions to carry combinations of:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_F7U_Cutlass

de Havilland Venom - United Kingdom



First flight   2 September 1949
Introduction 1952
Number built 1,431 (including Sea Venom/Aquilon)

Guns: 4× 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano Mk.V cannon, with 600 rounds total (150 rpg).
Rockets: 8× RP-3 "60 lb" (27 kg) rockets, or;
Bombs: 2× 1000 lb MC bombs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Venom

Saab 29 Tunnan - Sweden



First flight   1 September 1948
Introduction 1951
Retired 1976
Produced 1948–56
Number built 661

4x20mm Hispano Mark V autocannon

Rockets:

75 mm (3 in) air-to-air rockets
145 mm (5.8 in) anti-armor rockets
150 mm (6 in) HE (high-explosive) rockets
180 mm (7.2 in) HE antiship rockets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_29_Tunnan

Lavochkin La-15 - Soviet Union



First flight   January 8, 1948 (Aircraft 174)
Introduction 1949
Retired 1953
Number built 235

Guns: 3 * 23mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannon with 100 rounds per gun

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavochkin_La-15

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 - Soviet Union



First flight   30 December 1947
Introduction 1949
Number built 13,130 in the USSR + at least 4,180 under license

Guns: **2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 autocannon in the lower left fuselage (80 rounds per gun, 160 rounds total)
1 × 37 mm Nudelman N-37 autocannon in the lower right fuselage (40 rounds total)
Hardpoints: 2 with provisions to carry combinations of:
Bombs: 100 kg (220 lb) bombs
Other: drop tanks, or unguided rockets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 - Soviet Union



First flight   14 January 1950
Introduction October 1952
Number built 10,649 including Polish, Czech and Chinese variants

Guns:
2 × 23 mm (0.906 in) Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 autocannon (80 rounds per gun, 160 rounds total)
1 × 37 mm Nudelman N-37 autocannon (40 rounds total)
Hardpoints: 2 pylons with a capacity of up to 500 kg (1,100 lb) of stores,with provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: 2 × UB-16-57 rocket pods for S-5 rockets
Bombs: 2 × 250 kg (550 lb) bombs
(some versions equipped with 3 x NR-23 autocannons and 2 x K-5 air-to-air missiles)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-17

Yakovlev Yak-23 - Soviet Union



First flight   8 July 1947
Introduction 1949
Retired Late 1960s
Number built 316 + 3 prototypes

Guns: 2 × 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 with 90 rpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-23

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Regarding the air to air guided missiles:

AIM-9 Sidewinder (RB-24) missiles started service in 1956. Aim-7 Sparrows started service in 1958. Make a technology cutoff of 1955.

[Old Sport]

Gloster Meteor?

Like the idea of all early jets!

Also, one could justify an early Post WWII arena: Bearcat, Sea Fury, Fury, Spit Mk 24, post-war Corsair, La 11, P-51H, P-82, DeHavilland Hornet, and the like.

[Puma44]

Like a Korean War arena?

[Vulcan]

I can already see the text buffer filling up with "runner" whines.

[streakeagle]

I love this era. The F-86 and MiG-15 stole the show, but the other aircraft were great, too. I especially love the F2H-2 despite its lack of swept wings and a low power-to-weight ratio. I fell in love with the F-84F when I got a 1/72 scale model of it in Thunderbirds colors in the 2nd grade. The FJ-4 would be the ultimate evolution of original F-86, except there was also the F-86H... two great aircraft. But I also love the F3H and the F7U.

There has been only one combat flight sim where you could really enjoy all of these and the 60s and 70s fighters that followed: Third Wire's Strike Fighters series. Between a huge library of player flyables and AI aircraft that come out of the box and countless free mods as well as a few payware mods, you can almost fly any aircraft that existed. You can certainly find flyable versions of every aircraft listed above.

I can only hope that DCS World keeps progressing in this direction. But their library of aircraft modules and terrains grows pretty slow and a lot of flight simmers are scared off by the study sim complexity or simply don't like the game engine's limitations and flaws. When DCS World gives me an F-4 Phantom to go with the MiG-21, I will finally have my dream sim: A top notch combat study sim of my favorite fighter planes of all time. But in my dream version I can fly any/all variants, not just the two DCS deemed marketable enough to develop.

[Arlo]

Like a Korean War arena?

Not so much. More like a first generation jet fighter MA covering 1945-1955 era.

[MiloMorai]

Like a Korean War arena?

Fulda Gap scenario which would have the European a/c.

[Arlo]

Pretty bird ....

[Arlo]

[streakeagle]

The Phantom... the dawn of McDonnell dominance of the US military until they lost the F-23 competition and the failure of the A-12 project.
The F-4 Phantom II was the first fighter to be tri-service, and was the only one until the F-35.
By the early 80s, McDonnell had the F-15, F/A-18, and AV-8B all in service, though the Hornet was adapted from Northrop's F-17 and the AV-8B was an upgrade of the BAe Harrier.

With McDonnell folding, all of this great history has been retconned. Now it is the Boeing FH-1 Phantom.

[Ashley Pomeroy]

With McDonnell folding, all of this great history has been retconned. Now it is the Boeing FH-1 Phantom.

The entire UK military aviation industry has essentially been hoovered up into BAe Systems, with the odd result that the company's heritage website lists (for example) the Bristol Blenheim and the Blackburn Roc:
https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/bristol-149-blenheim-iv--and-bolingbroke-
https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/blackburn-b-25-roc

On the one hand it's nice that a huge defence conglomerate has surprisingly thorough historical information about old aircraft, but it's odd to read about e.g. the Hawker Henley at BAe Systems.

Did you know there was a Blackburn Blackburn? Looking at it I can't help but think "there must have been a better way":
https://www.baesystems.com/en/heritage/blackburn-r1-blackburn

[streakeagle]

I have experienced the BAe problem, too.
When I was growing up, it was the Hawker Siddeley Harrier.
There was the Blackburn Buccaneer.
The English Electric Lightning.

The 1940s and 1950s had so many competitive companies designing combat aircraft.
By the 1960s, so many had already merged. McDonnell-Douglas was the most memorable for me. Douglas was a major company and McDonnell was a fast-rising newcomer... then they were one. The loss of one of the best companies, North American, to a generic conglomerate name, Rockwell, was a huge loss. P-51, F-86, F-100... then nothing.

Of course the Supermarine Spitfire was so good that it was a top tier fighter from the beginning of the war to the end with the only major change needed being engine upgrades. How could such a successful design not result in the company have a long and proud history after the war?

But it is all about economics, politics, and technology. The more expensive the planes got, the fewer they made and the longer they served. F-4s and MiG-21s are still in service. F-14s, F-15s, F-16s, and F/A-18s are still in service. Ironically, the replacements for the F/A-18s were an upscaled F/A-18, and now some F-15s are being replaced by new build F-15s. Aircraft development has gotten so expensive and time consuming that it is more cost effective to keep building the same airframes for decades with engine and avionics upgrades.

Then there is the B-52, which is really among the post war bombers. I grew up with a set of 1955 World Book Encyclopedias. Under the topic "Air Force", the F-94C Starfire was the front line high tech all-weather interceptor that would stop enemy nuclear bombers and the B-52 was the bomber that would get past enemy fighters. The F-94C was never that good and didn't serve very long. Will the B-52 ever retire?