The first genuinely successful American combat jet, the Shooting Star can trace its roots to the middle of World War Two where it began design as a response to the emergence of German rocket- and jet-powered fighters. In the early days of the Korean War, the F-80 cleared the skies of propeller-driven fighters but was later outclassed by the Soviet-built MiG-15. It was thus relegated to the ground-strike role for the remainder of the war.
