Chapter 633: The British Jet

“You didn’t tell the military personnel that this aircraft has a very short flight time? And a very limited range?” a man in a suit asked his assistant with a frown. His company had been ordered to produce the British Meteor fighter, but he was well aware of some of the aircraft’s core data, and was now anxiously questioning the person responsible for relaying the message.

The assistant’s face was also grim. He replied in a low voice, “I told them! I said this plane can at best be used to intercept enemy bombers. It’s unrealistic to use it to gain air superiority. But those guys said that being able to intercept enemy bombers is enough.”

“Then you didn’t make it clear to these idiots that we simply cannot mass-produce this plane right now? Those seemingly simple turbine blades require many manufacturing processes to create. There are only a few of these engines, and they were all made back in the homeland…” This businessman knew his company’s limits. His enterprise in Canada was already stretched thin producing Hurricane fighters and some of Rolls-Royce’s piston engines. Where would they get the energy for such an impractical project?

Hearing these words, the assistant felt like crying. He answered his boss dejectedly, looking quite aggrieved, “I told them. Our production capacity is already limited, and we can’t divert personnel to produce such a complex aircraft now. But those…”

“But we must produce this aircraft!” A general of the Royal Air Force walked over, pushed the assistant aside, and said to the businessman, “I don’t care what difficulties you have, you must overcome them! This is no longer about just one fighter plane. This is about whether Britain can hold on, whether the British people still have the courage to persevere! The troops in Iceland need an invincible fighter, and we must give them this invincible fighter!”

When a regime is besieged from all sides, when the former sun-never-sets empire is now reduced to a subordinate living under someone else’s roof… Negative and resistant sentiments were already beginning to appear in the distant Indian Federation, and Australia could no longer be counted on. The only things the British Empire could rely on were its past memories and its years of technological reserves.

Therefore, the current British Empire could not afford to pass up any opportunity to boost morale. A new weapon, especially one that could surpass German weapons, entering combat would have an irreplaceable effect on the morale of the entire empire. On the other hand, the debut of a new weapon could also play an immeasurable role in intimidating the restless colonies.

“I need at least 5 of these planes. I don’t care what methods you use. Once this plane appears, the skies near Iceland will be absolutely safe. The German navy will be unable to land without first gaining air superiority, and only then can His Majesty the King prepare the plan to counter-attack the homeland with peace of mind!” This air force officer clearly had high hopes for this jet aircraft.

Could five planes save the fate of a failing empire? How many planes were needed to intimidate the distant colonies? The corner of the businessman’s mouth twitched twice, but he did not ask these questions out loud. He didn’t know how much longer his country could exist, but out of patriotism, he still decided to do everything a Briton could do.

While the businessman’s assistant and the general were discussing the future of the Meteor fighter by the parking lot outside the airfield, at the end of the test runway, the new British fighter that had just flown as fast as a meteor was now emitting wisps of smoke from the seams of its metal skin.

“Technicians! Fire brigade! Get over here! The plane seems to be on fire inside! Someone, quick!” A ground crewman was about to open the plane’s maintenance panel to check the wiring and mechanics when he saw the experimental aircraft smoking and immediately began to shout.

Many people nearby heard his cries and rushed over with fire extinguishers. They worked together to remove the maintenance panel. As the flames met with more air, they flared up with a whoosh, but they were quickly extinguished with the firefighting equipment.

“It’s the left engine that overheated. It ignited the rubber protective gaskets inside, which caused some of the wiring to burn,” a designer familiar with the aircraft’s internal structure concluded after inspecting the burned area.

Everyone stood silently around the troublesome new fighter. Before takeoff, the right engine had vibrated. After takeoff, the left engine had caught fire. With this level of reliability, even if it were produced and sent to the front lines, how many pilots would be willing to fly this plane into combat?

The performance may be ideal, but you have to be alive to operate it. If this plane started shaking in the sky, if it caught fire in the sky, would there even be a need for German pilots to open fire? This plane might fall from the sky before it even saw the enemy. How could they rely on it to ensure the safety of the British Empire’s airspace?

“This thing can’t go into combat. It needs at least two more years of testing. It can only be mass-produced after the technology has matured!” an elderly engineer said, squinting at the Meteor fighter through his thick glasses. He finally shook his head in resignation and prepared to write down the details of the incident in his logbook.

Suddenly, a hand pressed down on his logbook, stopping him. The old engineer looked up and saw that the person stopping him was none other than the plane’s test pilot, the British Air Force Major.

“When I was flying, this plane performed very well. Its performance is extremely powerful. It is the best aircraft in the world, so please do not kill it. I am willing to shed my last drop of blood flying it on the battlefield rather than live in a world without Britain,” the Major said, looking at the engineer with sincere eyes.

At any time, there are heroes willing to sacrifice for their country. The sentiment of tragic heroism is not exclusive to any single nation. At least in the ancient empire of Britain, there was no shortage of those who would face death squarely.

The old engineer finally put down his fountain pen, sighed, and walked towards the Meteor fighter with his hands behind his back. He began to repair the slightly damaged aircraft with his apprentices and more technicians. After all, this plane carried the future of an empire, which was why its thin wings were so heavy, making one feel pity for its fate.

“Don’t worry, Major. You are willing to die for the British Empire on the battlefield, and we are willing to build the best planes for you!” a young technician said to the pilot. “We will do our best to make sure these planes don’t malfunction!”

…

“These Brits, they still haven’t given up on jet aircraft?” Akado said with a sneer, looking at the intelligence department’s assessment report on the Canadian secret weapon experiment. He tossed aside some blurry photos and miscellaneous supporting evidence. The Meteor fighter. One glance at the blurry photos and Akado knew that, just as in the other timeline, the British jet had appeared more than a year early.

However, this early arrival was fraught with compromises, which had turned what was originally a relatively mature first-generation Allied jet fighter into a suicide machine with a high failure rate, just like Germany’s doomsday fighter, the ME-262.

“We still don’t dare to mass-produce our own jet fighter because the failure rate doesn’t meet the standard. What can these Brits possibly do with something they’ve rushed out like this?” Gascoigne said with a sneer, offering his own assessment. He was responsible for the security of Germany’s technological weapons, so he knew the development progress of many new German weapons.

He knew that Germany had, in fact, test-flown its own jet fighter a few months ago, and that jet was much more reliable than the British toy. It had landed safely and unscathed after a 14-minute flight. But this thing still needed at least a year of testing before it could possibly be equipped by frontline fighter units, and it would not be mass-produced.

Given the limitations of the era, the jet fighters of World War II were not suitable weapons for gaining air superiority. Although these planes surpassed the main piston-engine fighters of the war in terms of speed, their high fuel consumption led to very short flight times, and their high speed resulted in poor dogfighting performance, making them unsuitable for air combat.

Therefore, the jet fighters of the WWII era could basically only be used as interceptors. Their main combat tactic was to take full advantage of their speed when intercepting enemy bomber formations, hit and run. The British were in a hurry to put them into service because they feared a raid on their Iceland base by German long-range bomber forces. Germany, being on the offensive, did not have a very urgent need for such a defensive weapon.

“Let them build it. If the course of the war could be turned around by a few jet fighters, that would be the biggest joke of all!” Akado said with a sneer. He had reason to be confident, because in the other timeline he knew, the Nazi air force had actually put a large number of jet fighters into service. And what was the result? Weren’t they still beaten black and blue by the swarms of Allied bombers?

And how many of those German ace pilots died in their own failure-prone ME-262 fighters? They were not shot down by Allied fighters but died tragically due to mechanical failures in their own planes. For a warrior, if the only weapon he can rely on on the battlefield is unreliable, then he can only fight by praying.

“What about us, then? Do we just wait for the British to build their jet fighters?” Gascoigne was not as confident as Akado. He didn’t know the actual state of the British jets, and even if he did, he didn’t want to take any chances.

Akado laughed heartily. “Let’s just do our own thing and forget about the British jet. That thing, just like our ship-to-ship missile project, won’t produce any significant results in the short term!”

Published: 2025-09-13T02:44:12.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-01-30T17:15:52.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c633-british-138783044

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