The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet remains to this day the only operational rocket-powered aircraft to ever have seen combat. Its intended use was as a point-defense interceptor, using its eight-minute powered endurance to climb to the altitude of an Allied bomber stream and then attacking the bombers while descending in a glide. It was a successful design as an aircraft, but did not achieve sufficient results to be worthy of the effort which went into its considerable operational and logistical expenditures. Only eighteen Allied aircraft were claimed by Komet pilots.
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