First taking flight only shortly after the Gloster Meteor, the De Havilland Vampire was yet another first-generation British jet fighter/interceptor. Introduced in 1946, the Vampire utilized a novel twin-boom tail, allowing it to be a rather short aircraft, and would see use in the subsequent De Havilland Venom and Sea Venom, the former of which was in service up until the 1980s.
With more than 3,000 of all types made, and used by no fewer than 15 nations, the Vampire was a popular aircraft, seeing combat in multiple conflicts of the time, notably the Rhodesian Bush War and the Suez Crisis.