Under the pressures of World War II, development of the jet engine was channeled 
into military aircraft programs. The new jets promised higher speeds and altitudes which the Germans desperately wanted. The first jet-propelled plane in combat was a German Messerschmitt Me 262A "Schwalbe".  The Me 262 pushed the envelope of fighter aircraft being the most technologically advanced aricraft of WWII.  The shark like Me 262 introduced many features that were standard in later fighter design. 

The history of modern jet powered aircraft starts in Germany in 1939, when the Heinkel He 178 became the first pure jet aircraft to fly. The Germans designed a staggering number of jet powered aircraft between 1939 and 1945. Most of these designs stayed on paper, but later influenced modern US design.