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The Dominion Aircraft Corporation Jetfire was an important milestone in New Holland’s aviation history. It was the first jet-powered aircraft to fly in the Dominion and the first to serve with the Royal New Holland Air Force. Development of the Jetfire can be traced to technology sharing between the United Kingdom and New Holland during the Second World War. It combined the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2 turbojet engine with the wing of Supermarine’s Spitfire and New Holland’s own aerospace expertise. Production of the Jetfire began too late for the aircraft to see combat in Europe, but it was employed in the Pacific Theatre against Japan and later against communist forces in the North China War. The Jetfire remained in service until the late 1950s when it was replaced by the DAC Sabre, a derivative of the F-86.

Development
As a dominion within the British Empire, New Holland maintained a close relationship with the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, this extended to the sharing of classified scientific and industrial research. In 1941 New Holland received technical specifications relating to the Power Jets W.2 and the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2 then being developed in the United Kingdom. The potential of these engines was recognised at an early stage and in 1942 the Department of Air Force directed Hargrave-Hall, the largest aircraft engine manufacturer in New Holland, to produce a clone of the Metropolitan-Vickers design. Though larger and heavier than the W.2, the F.2 was believed to be more promising. New Holland's version of the F.2 ran the following year as the Hargrave-Hall AJ100, though this was little more than a prototype used for static demonstrations. As the war continued, the design would evolve into the more powerful and reliable AJ101, AJ102, and AJ103 models.

With a working turbojet engine now available in New Holland, the Department of the Air Force outlined a requirement for a new jet-powered fighter at the end of 1943. Three manufacturers were considered: the Inverie Aviation Company, de Havilland New Holland, and the Dominion Aircraft Corporation (DAC). Inverie had just been selected to produce the Fantail, a piston-engine fighter-bomber. De Havilland New Holland was promising. Its parent company was already working on a jet fighter. However, it was occupied with production of the Mosquito and the Department was hesitant to interrupt its work. That left the Dominion Aircraft Corporation, a government-owned firm which had been established at the start of the war to fill gaps in New Holland’s inventory. It was producing the Avro Lancaster and the Supermarine Spitfire under licence. While the former was still valuable, the latter was approaching the end of its life and would soon be superseded by the Inverie Fantail. Thus, DAC was chosen for the project.

Development of the new aircraft occupied DAC’s design team for much of 1944. The project was given the internal company designation DA-10, falling between the Spitfire FR Mk XIV and the Lincoln Mk 30. In an effort to reduce production cost and development time, the DA-10 incorporated a wing intended for the latest Spitfire models. Compared to earlier wings, it increased the speed at which aileron reversal occurred. This was particularly valuable as the DA-10 was expected to fly much faster than its piston-engine predecessors. The Department of the Air Force prioritised the project, ensuring the allocation of strategically important resources which would have otherwise been in short supply. This enabled the first prototype, 44C-0310, to be completed in November. A second followed before the end of the year.

The Aircraft Research and Development Unit at Okehampton, New Holland analysed the flying characteristics of both prototypes in detail. Both suffered from overheating problems which could be traced to the Hargrave-Hall AJ101 turbojet. However, Hargrave-Hall promised that an improved version could be supplied for the production version. The DA-10 was, otherwise, generally satisfactory. It was less manoeuvrable than the Spitfire, but its speed and acceleration exceeded all existing piston-engine types in New Holland service. DAC received authorisation to commence production in early 1945. The production version of the DA-10 received the internal company designation DA-14, but the Department of the Air Force chose to recognise the aircraft's origins in the Spitfire by branding it 'Jetfire'. There were a number of differences between the DA-10 and the Jetfire I. The prototypes carried no armament and were completed with a grey/yellow paint scheme, while the production models were armed with four Hispano Mk. V cannons and had a striking bare-metal finish. However, the most important change exhibited by the Jetfire I was the improved AJ102 turbojet which made the overheating issues of the DA-10 tolerable.

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Service
The Jetfire I entered squadron service in late 1945 with units returning to New Holland from Europe. This allowed their existing aircraft to be sold for scrap, obviating the expense required to ship them back to New Holland. DAC proposed a night-fighter version of the Jetfire around this time. It was known internally as the DA-15 and carried a radar in the nose. However, the Department of the Air Force was uninterested. The de Havilland Mosquito, already serving in this role, was deemed sufficient for the foreseeable future. By the end of 1945, No. 3 Squadron had arrived in Okinawa with the Jetfire I. Others soon followed. The Jetfire I lacked the range required to escort bombers over Japan, but it was a capable interceptor during daylight hours. Jetfire I squadrons were, therefore, tasked with protecting bomber bases from air attack. In the event, few hostile aircraft were encountered. Japan conserved what little fuel it still had for the coming invasion of the Home Islands.

A new version of the Jetfire, designated Jetfire II by the Department of the Air Force and internally as the DA-14 by DAC, entered production in June 1946. This introduced a new laminar flow wing which enabled higher theoretical speeds and increased fuel capacity, which was further supplemented by the addition of semi-permanent wingtip tanks and the repositioning of the armament from the wing to a new nose. This additional fuel complemented a new engine, the AJ103. Though larger and more powerful than the preceding AJ102, it actually had a slightly lower specific fuel consumption. All of these changes increased the range of the Jetfire, though the aircraft was now noticeably heavier. While moving the armament from the wings to the nose, DAC also took the opportunity to replace the existing Hispano Mk. Vs with three Wayland Mk. I guns. These were developed from captured German designs and capable of previously unattainable rates of fire. Thus, despite the reduction from four guns to three, the combined rate of fire was actually higher. The new wings were also strengthened to carry ordnance including a pair of 500 lb bombs and up to eight RP-3 rockets. However, the Royal New Holland Air Force did not consider the Jetfire II to be a true fighter-bomber.

Squadrons equipped with the Jetfire I were redeployed to Honshu as soon as Allied amphibious forces overran suitable airfields. However, the Japanese air threat receded quickly and the war ended soon after. The Royal New Holland Air Force retained both models of the Jetfire following the war, though the Jetfire II was only available in limited numbers. Its production was stopped immediately after the Japanese surrender. The Jetfire complemented the Inverie Fantail, the other half of New Holland’s post-war fighter force. Older, less capable aircraft such as the Spitfire and the Curtiss Kittyhawk were scrapped during post-war downsizing. There was little desire in New Holland's political circles to purchase new aircraft after the war. Thus, when New Holland and the United Nations became embroiled in the North China War between 1951 and 1954, the Jetfire was still the most capable aircraft in the inventory. Unfortunately, it had been superseded by other designs and was noticeably inferior to the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 used by communist forces. While New Holland pilots were able to achieve a positive kill ratio against their communist counterparts, it was lower than the ratio achieved by American pilots in the North American F-86 Sabre.

Disposal
With the North China War highlighting the obsolescence of the Jetfire, the recently established Ministry of Defence began working on a replacement. In fact, it worked on two. As an interim measure, DAC would manufacture a version of Sabre under licence. With much of the design work already completed by North American, DAC’s design team would focus on a new supersonic type to eventually to replace the Sabre in turn. Political controversy surrounding the Ministry of Defence’s preference for the government-owned DAC at the expense of other New Holland manufacturers prevented the eventuation of the latter, but the DAC Sabre entered service in 1954 immediately after the North China War’s conclusion. By 1960, the Jetfire was formally withdrawn and all examples were placed in storage. They remained there until the late 1960s, at which point they were sold off. A select few were gifted to museums while others were sold to private owners, but most were scrapped. Two Jetfires were seized from a merchant ship by Portuguese authorities in Cape Verde. They were being smuggled from New Holland to Biafra.

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