The Gloster Meteor was the first & only Allied jet aircraft operational in World War II, & was designed to Air Ministry Specification F.9/40 by George Carter. The Meteor airframe was tested with several different jets, including the de Havilland Halford H.1, Rolls-Royce W.2B & the Metrovick F.2. The first 20 production aircraft were powered by modified W.2B/23C Welland turbojets, & entered service with No.616 Squadron of the RAF on the 12th of July 1944. The first Meteors active during the war saw action against V-1 flying bombs, as they were the only aircraft which could fly at the same speed as them. The most prolific variant of the Meteor was the F.Mk8, which had increased fuel capacity, a bubble canopy, a redesigned tail & a longer fuselage. The fist F.Mk8 flew on October the 12th 1948, & a massive 1,183 were built.

After the fighter variants of the Meteor came the PR.Mk10 photo-reconnaissance aircraft, which first flew on the 22nd of March 1950. The PR.Mk10 began to replace the Spitfire PR.XIX in RAF service in January 1951 along with the transitional variant before it, the FR.Mk9 half-fighter half-reconnaissance aircraft. The FR.Mk9 & PR.Mk10 were the only reconnaissance variants of the Meteor, 126 FR.Mk9s & 58 PR.Mk10s being built in total.

After the reconnaissance variants came several night-fighter aircraft. First came the NF.Mk11, which was developed from the T.Mk7 trainer variant of the Meteor, which was already in service with both the RAF & RN. The NF.Mk11 had an extended forward fuselage to accommodate an SCR-720 AI Mk10 radar, & first appeared in prototype form on the 31st of May 1950. Next was the NF.Mk13, which was optimised for tropical operation. The NF.Mk13 was built in small numbers, but obtained several export orders; six of the type were supplied to Egypt during the Suez Crisis. The last of the night-fighter variants of the Meteor was the NF.Mk14, which was basically an improved NF.Mk11 with an American radar. Production of the NF.Mk14 amounted to 100 aircraft, bringing the total production of night-fighter Meteors up to 335 aircraft.

Many Meteors were converted after they left front-line service, usually into target-tugs or RPVs. These conversions included the NF(T).Mk14 navigation trainer, the TT.20 target-tug & the U.14, U.16, U.17 & U.21 RPVs. The RPV variants were used mainly as targets in missile trials, & were painted in high-visibility paint schemes to aid detection. Some were fitted with cameras to record the missile impact as well.

Between 1942 & 1954, a massive 3,545 Meteors in 11 basic versions were built by Gloster, & served with the Air Forces of no less than 12 nations. Fokker of the Netherlands also licence built 330 Meteors. The last RAF Meteor operational sortie was made by an NF.Mk14 of No.60 Squadron at Tengpah, Singapore in September 1961.

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