Designed by Rex Biesel, the Vought F7U Cutlass was a highly unconventional carrier-based fighter whose development was based on captured data from the German Arado company at the end of World War II. The tail-less Cutlass featured broad, swept wings on which were mounted twin tail fins giving it a futuristic appearance but which also gave it a notorious reputation of unreliability to the point that the initial production variant was never cleared for carrier operations! Many of these problems were eventually corrected but it did not suffice to prevent over a quarter of all the Cutlass fleet to be lost in accidents throughout its brief service life. A total of 13 US Navy and USMC squadrons operated the F7U and some were even equipped with Sparrow missiles or used as unarmed photo-reconnaissance platforms. The last unit was finally retired in 1959.

First flight of the XF7U-1 took place on 29 September 1948 but crashed a few weeks later (the same fate beheld the second and third prototypes). Pre-series F7U-1 units were shown unsuitable for carrier operations although its successor, the F7U-2, was cancelled due to engine problems. A major redesign resulted in the F7U-3, the first to enter service in significant numbers as well as the F7U-3M which was capable of carrying Sparrow missiles. The final variant was the F7U-3P photo-reconnaissance platform which was the last to be retired from service.