The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to achieve combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor first flew in 1943 but it was not a sophisticated aircraft in its aerodynamics although it proved to be a successful combat fighter. Several major variants of the Meteor incorporated technological advances during the 1940s and 1950s and thousands were built to fly with the RAF and other air forces and remained in use for several decades.