Grumman XF10F Jaguar

The Grumman XF10F Jaguar was a prototype swing-wing fighter offered to the United States Navy in the early 1950s, and although it never entered service its research paved the way toward the General Dynamics F-111 and Grumman's own F-14 Tomcat. The Navy wanted a variable-geometry wing because the rising weight of its jet fighters was making carrier operations troublesome. Originally conceived as a swept-wing version of the F9F Panther, the design was reconfigured in 1948 with a T-tail and ultimately a variable-geometry wing. The prototype first flew on 19 May 1952 and made some 32 test flights that year, and in April 1953 the Navy canceled the program and the 112 production aircraft it had ordered.