The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first operational jet fighter used by the United States Army Air Forces. The P-59A Airacomet preceded the P-80, but it was produced in small numbers and did not enter operation. The P-80 was one of the first operational jet fighter to have its engine within the fuselage (the first jet fighters had their engines in external pods for easier maintenance of the early turbojets), a configuration pioneered by the earlier de Havilland Vampire and one that that would be used by nearly all subsequent fighter aircraft.