The de Havilland Vampire has the distinction of being Britain's most widely produced post-war military aircraft, a twin tailboom design which became the first in a series of similar designs by de Havilland and one of the most recognizable RAF fighters of the Cold War. Nicknamed "Spider Crab" due to its unconventional looks, the Vampire's origins lay during the mid-war years where it was the first Allied aircraft to exceed 500 mph, it began production shortly before the war in Europe ended and entered service in 1946. Aside from its basic role as a fighter, the Vampire was adapted as a fighter-bomber and a night fighter (the first jet of its kind to serve in the West). It was also memorable for being the first jet aircraft to operate from an aircraft carrier, HMS Ocean. Despite these groundbreaking firsts, the Vampire did not see as much combat as its success would have suggested, mostly against Mau-Mau rebels in Kenya and during the Malayan Emergency; it was replaced by the Venom shortly after. Nevertheless the Vampire was operated by over 30 different countries (with Germany and the United States being the only major Western powers not to adopt it) in addition to considerable license production in Australia (CAC), France (Sud-Est), India (HAL), Italy (Fiat/Macchi), and Switzerland (FFA) which continued to operate them until the 1990s.

First flight of the DH.100 prototype took place on 20 September 1943 with the first production units built barely days before VE Day. These were known as the Vampire F.1 which were eventually replaced by the F.3 which introduced rounded vertical tail surfaces as well as increased internal fuel and drop tanks. Next up were the fighter-bombers which began with the FB.2 with Rolls-Royce Nene engines, these were not adopted by the RAF but were license built in Australia as the FB.30 and FB.31 and in France where they were known as the Mistral. Subsequent variants reverted to the earlier Goblin engines, these were the FB.5 (the main production version which equipped over 30 squadrons), the Swiss-built FB.6, and the definitive FB.9 for service in the Far East. Similar variants built elsewhere were designated FB.50. Finally, the Vampire was used extensively as a two-seat night fighter, the NF.10 (exported as the NF.54) with an enlarged nose housing AI radar. Other versions included the navalized Sea Vampire F.20 for the Fleet Air Arm (based on the FB.5) and the T.11 two-seat trainer, the last model built.