The Heinkel He 162 was developed in March 1944 as part of the Volksjäger emergency program. From today's point of view, this program was complete madness. These planes, built in the hundreds and thousands, were to be manned by Hitler Youth teenagers with only basic flying skills gained from a few hours flying gliders. They were supposed to attack allied bomber formations, but it is very doubtful that these untrained pilots would be able to record many air victories against the well-trained allied pilots.

The first prototype of this plane, built mostly of plywood, flew only three months after its specifications were published, while the first production models entered service in January 1945. About 112 planes were completed and delivered to JG1 in northern Germany, later some of them were transferred to the famous Jagdverband 44 near Munich and Austria, but the war ended before any of these planes saw any notable action.

After the war, several of these aircraft were tested by Allied test pilots. It became obvious that this plane was quite difficult to fly, but a skilled pilot could get a lot of performance out of it. It proved to be as maneuverable as the P51 Mustang, but faster in acceleration and top speed. Therefore it would be a good tactic to use this plane in combination with the Me262. The He162 should take out the allied escort fighters, while the Me262 should attack the bombers.

At least one of these aircraft survived and is now on display in a museum in England.