Interesting World World War 2 Fighters from Unlikely Nations

Interesting World World War 2 Fighters from Unlikely Nations

Autocar

Fri, December 5, 2025 at 12:31 AM UTC

11 min read

The Second World War’s most iconic fighter aircraft came from powerhouses like the US and Germany.

But smaller nations also built their own fighters, often out of necessity as global arms supplies ran dry. And some of these underdog creations proved surprisingly effective in battle. Here are ten of the most intriguing fighters from unexpected corners of the world—from Australia to Yugoslavia. Built in limited numbers, every one of them saw service, and almost all of these flew into combat.

10: CAC Boomerang

After Pearl Harbor, Australia found itself at war against Japan and at the end of a dangerously long supply chain leading back to the UK and the US. Fearing that deliveries of modern combat aircraft might diminish or cease altogether, Lawrence Wackett of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation proposed building a domestic fighter.

To expedite production, the aircraft was based on the general-purpose Wirraway (itself a derivative of the T-6 Texan/Harvard trainer) and used the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp, then being manufactured in Sydney for the Beaufort torpedo bomber. The prototype Boomerang flew in May 1942, proving manoeuvrable and easy to fly.

10: CAC Boomerang

Unfortunately, the stubby fighter was slow by contemporary standards. It entered service in early 1943, and in encounters with Japanese bombers over the next few months, the Boomerang simply wasn’t fast enough to catch the enemy aircraft. During its combat life, the Boomerang didn’t shoot down any enemy planes.

Once transferred to the close support role, however, the Boomerang proved highly successful. Agile, well-armed and armoured, the Boomerang proved to be ideally suited to the campaign in the South West Pacific, where small, vicious, close-quarters actions fought by small formations of troops over a vague front were the norm.

9: Avia B.534

One of the finest combat biplanes ever built, Czechoslovakia’s B.534 was arguably the best fighter in the world when it entered service in 1933. Despite Czechoslovakia’s annexation by Germany in 1939, the now seemingly obsolescent B.534 saw widespread service with several nations in a variety of roles.

As well as the standard fighter with four machine guns on the fuselage sides, the Bk.534 variant deleted two of the machine guns and featured a 20mm cannon firing through the propeller spinner. Later aircraft featured a cut-down rear fuselage and bubble canopy, allowing 360-degree visibility from the cockpit.

Serving with Slovak units on the Eastern Front in 1941, B.534s scored a few victories over Soviet aircraft. However, three examples supported the anti-German Slovak National Uprising of 1944, and one of these downed a Hungarian Ju-52/3m transport, the last confirmed air-to-air victory achieved by a biplane fighter.

Germany utilised the B.534s it acquired in 1939 as an advanced trainer, glider and target tug, as well as testing it with an arrestor hook as a naval fighter for their planned carrier, *Graf Zeppelin*. Additionally, Bulgaria, Greece, and Yugoslavia all utilised B.534s in the fighter role.

8: VL Myrsky

Following a similar process that led to the production of the Commonwealth Boomerang in Australia, the Finnish Myrsky was developed in response to concerns that the supply of foreign combat aircraft might become scarce in the event of war. The Finnish state aircraft factory Valtion Lentokonetehdas (VL) began designing the Myrsky (‘Storm’) in 1939.

The similarities with the Boomerang continued with its engine as the Myrsky used the same Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp as the Australian fighter. Despite their American origin, Finland obtained its R-1830s and spare parts from Germany, which had captured large stocks of the Twin Wasp from France.

In contrast to the Australian aircraft, however, the Myrsky was built mainly of wood and was comparatively fast. First flying in December 1941, a total of 51 Myrskys were built, seeing service during the Continuation War against the USSR in 1944, where they proved manoeuvrable and fast enough to dogfight Soviet fighters effectively.

Unfortunately for the Finns, VL had been forced to use low-quality glue in the construction of the Myrsky, which could not withstand the rain, frost, and dampness of the Finnish winter, resulting in structural failure, with sometimes fatal consequences. Despite these problems, the aircraft remained in service until 1948.

7: Fokker D.XXI

The simple, rugged and dependable D.XXI was the most modern Dutch single-seater to fight in the Second World War, seeing most of its combat service with Finland, where it proved highly successful. It was designed specifically for the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) but was only ever used in Europe.

The D.XXI was a modern low-wing cantilever monoplane with an enclosed cockpit but did not possess a retractable undercarriage as this was deemed to add an unacceptable level of complexity and weight. The aircraft made its first flight in March 1936, and 36 were ordered for the Netherlands Air Force.

The first nation to take the Fokker into action, however, was Finland during the Winter War against the Soviet Union of 1939-40. Licence-built D.XXIs, sometimes fitted with ski undercarriage, were the premier Finnish fighter type and were credited with an impressive 130 victories for only 12 losses.

Finnish D.XXIs served on during the Continuation War of 1941-44 and, although still fairly effective, were outclassed by newer Soviet aircraft. In Dutch service, the highly manoeuvrable D.XXI proved surprisingly effective against the Bf 109E during the 1940 ‘Five-Day War’ with Germany and accounted for 16 confirmed victories.

6: Fokker G.1

Intended as a ‘Jachtkruiser’ heavy fighter, the radical G.1 originated as a private venture and would prove highly influential yet saw only brief action defending its nation of origin in 1940. Years later, Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson confirmed that the G.1 inspired the twin-boom design he adopted for the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

The G.1 caused a stir at the Paris Air show in 1936, before it had even flown, and was nicknamed ‘le Facheur’ (‘the Reaper’) in the aviation press due to its heavy forward-firing armament of eight machine guns mounted in the nose. The aircraft subsequently flew in March 1937.

The Netherlands ordered 36 G.1s, and 23 were available when Germany invaded in May 1940, although several were destroyed on the ground in the opening assault. Surviving aircraft were primarily employed for ground attack duties but managed to achieve 14 air-to-air victories during the brief conflict.

At the end of hostilities, the Germans allowed the completion of aircraft still on the production line and utilised these and surviving Dutch G.1s as advanced trainers. But in May 1941, two Fokker staff successfully stole a G.1, evaded German fighters, and flew it to freedom in England.

5: PZL P.24

The P.24 was the ultimate development of a series of Polish gull-winged monoplane fighters, which first flew in May 1934. The third prototype set a world speed record for radial engine fighters of 414 km/h later the same year, and export sales were made to Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Turkey.

Poland never utilised the P.24, electing to wait for its more advanced successor (the never-delivered P.50 Jastrząb). Still, the aircraft saw considerable wartime action, and the fighter became one of the comparatively few combat aircraft to fight for both the Axis and against it.

When Italy invaded Greece in 1940, the P.24 was the main fighter of the Royal Hellenic Air Force and was involved in heavy fighting. Slightly slower than its primary fighter opponent, the Fiat CR.42 biplane, the PZL was also less manoeuvrable than the Italian aircraft.

However, the P.24 possessed heavier firepower than the Fiat, with two 20mm cannon, and Greek P.24s destroyed 64 aircraft for the loss of 24 PZLs in action. Meanwhile, Romanian P.24s were used to defend both the Ploiești oilfields and Bucharest and were credited with 37 Soviet bombers destroyed before being replaced in 1942.

4: IAR-80

During the 1930s, Romania’s IAR factory built the PZL P.24 under licence, but IAR’s design team believed that they could design a better fighter. Accordingly, IAR mated the engine, rear fuselage and tail of the P.24 with a new cantilever monoplane wing and retractable undercarriage.

Designated the IAR 80 and first flying in April 1939, the aircraft demonstrated excellent performance. However, it was not destined to see combat until the invasion of the USSR in June 1941, scoring its initial victory on the first day of the offensive. Against Soviet aircraft, the IAR 80 proved effective, though it lacked firepower.

Efforts to improve the aircraft’s armament resulted in the IAR 80B with six machine guns before the definitive IAR 80C appeared with two 20mm cannon and two machine guns. A dive bomber variant, the IAR 81, was also developed after Romania was unable to obtain Ju 87 Stukas from Germany.

The IAR 80 was beginning to show its age when it was used to intercept American bombing raids on the Ploiești oil refinery in 1943 and 44, and the aircraft was replaced by the Bf 109G in 1944. The IAR 80 soldiered on in second-line service until 1949.

3: FFVS J 22

The aircraft for which the term ‘pocket rocket’ might well have been invented, the FFVS J 22 owed its existence to the classic story of a relatively small nation finding itself deprived of modern aircraft. In Sweden’s case, this was primarily due to a US embargo on all arms sales to non-British nations.

A domestic fighter was the answer, and a completely new organisation was set up to produce it: the Royal Air Administration Aircraft Factory in Stockholm. Power came from the same R-1830 engine used in the Boomerang and Myrsky, as Svenska Flygmotor was already producing an unlicensed copy of this engine.

The small and lightweight J 22 made maximum use of the limited horsepower of the R-1830, possessed excellent performance, and was touted as the world's fastest fighter in relation to engine power. In mock dogfights against the vaunted P-51D, the J 22 was competitive up to 20,000ft.

Well-liked by pilots for its performance, handling, and simplicity, though less so for its bizarrely narrow undercarriage, the J 22 survived in Swedish frontline service until 1952, and 198 were built. In 1951, a single example was painted in a special red scheme for the 25th anniversary of the Swedish Air Force.

2: Saab J 21

The unorthodox design of the SAAB 21 was adopted to concentrate a heavy gun armament in the aircraft’s nose. However, the pusher layout also placed the propeller behind the pilot, making an emergency exit hazardous. As a result, the J 21 was one of the first aircraft to feature an ejection seat.

Ordered as part of Sweden’s rearmament programme in the early 1940s, the J 21 first flew in July 1943, and 298 examples would be constructed by 1949. In operational service, although intended for the air superiority role, the J 21 proved instead to be an outstanding fighter bomber.

The excellent forward visibility and concentrated firepower, both a result of the J 21s unusual configuration, proved invaluable for the ground attack role. The aircraft could also carry a variety of external ordnance, including bombs and rockets, as well as wingtip fuel tanks that could be used as ad-hoc incendiary weapons.

Power was supplied by a German Daimler-Benz DB 605, built by Svenska Flygmotor, and an alternative was sought following the end of the war. SAAB redesigned the aircraft for jet propulsion, a process aided by its twin-boom design, and the J 21R entered service as Sweden’s first military jet in 1950.

1: Rogožarski IK-3

When Yugoslavia was invaded, most of the defending aircraft were foreign, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109E and the Hawker Hurricane. However, an exception to this rule was the domestically built Rogožarski IK-3, which proved highly effective during its brief combat service against the combined forces of Germany, Italy, and Hungary.

Yugoslavia had already built the gull-wing strut-braced IK-2 fighter, which also saw service during the invasion. However, the IK-3 was much more advanced, featuring a retractable undercarriage and a higher top speed. The aircraft resembled the French Morane-Saulnier MS 406 but possessed better performance and was more manoeuvrable than the German Bf 109.

Only 12 aircraft were completed as engine deliveries from Czechoslovakia ceased, and development of an improved version, powered by either the Rolls-Royce Merlin or Daimler-Benz DB 601, was underway when Yugoslavia was invaded by Germany in April 1941. During eleven days of fighting, IK-3s destroyed eleven aircraft, four of which were shot down by Milislav Semiz, the top-scoring IK-3 pilot.

Two IK-3s survived the fighting to be captured by the Germans, but these were scrapped in June 1941. However, a re-engined IK-3 design formed the basis of the Ikarus S-49 fighter, first flown in 1949. 158 S-49s were built, and the aircraft remained in service until 1961.

Follow Joe Coles on Substack, Twitter X or Blue Sky. His superb Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes is available here.

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Photo Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

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