Footage from film "Red Tails": The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe ("Swallow") was a German aircraft, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. It was produced in World War II and saw action starting in 1944 as a multi-role fighter/bomber/reconnaissance/interceptor warplane for the Luftwaffe. During World War II, 150 Allied planes were lost to Me 262s, for 100 Me 262s shot down.