The de Havilland DH100 Vampire, a British fighter jet developed by the de Havilland Aircraft Company, was the second jet-powered aircraft to be operated by the Royal Air Force, following upon the success of the earlier Gloster Meteor. The aircraft, which was designed during World War II to explore the capabilities of jet propulsion, was a single-engine twin-boom configuration aircraft powered initially by the Halford H.1 turbojet engine (and later by the Goblin engine). The aircraft featured an innovative propulsion system, despite having a relatively conventional design. The jet’s production began back in 1944, and the jet entered service shortly after the Second World War ended in 1946.