F-94 – The First Air Force Jet with an Afterburner

<h2>First Air Force Jet with an Afterburner</h2> Lockheed’s F-94 Starfire was the first US jet with an afterburner developed as part of the first generation of jet aircraft for the United States Air Force. It adopted several development features from the twin-seat Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star, the F-94 Starfire was created at the end of the 1940s to be an all-weather day and night interceptor.   Entering service in May 1950 under the Air Defense Command, the plane took the piston-engine F-82 Twin Mustang’s place in the defense arsenal. Its specific mission would be to target the emerging threat posed by the Soviet’s nuclear-armed Tupolev Tu-4 bomber, which had been reversed engineered from the U.S.’s B-29 Superfortress.   Aside from being the first to feature an afterburner, the Starfire was the first aircraft of its type to see combat in the Korean War in January of 1953. Despite its success, its operational history was brief once the Northrop F-89 Scorpion and North American F-86D Sabre replaced it by mid-1950…   – As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. –   Credit to : Dark Skies

Please support our Sponsors -