The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet aircraft developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The single-seat Hunter entered service as a manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, and later operated in fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary roles with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy until the early 1990s. The Hunter was also widely exported, serving with 21 other air forces. Sixty years after its original introduction it was still in active service, operated by the Lebanese Air Force until 2014.On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for jet-powered aircraft, achieving 727.63 mph (1,171.01 km/h; 632.29 kn). Hunters were also used by two RAF display teams: the "Black Arrows", who on one occasion looped a record-breaking 24 examples in formation, and later the "Blue Diamonds", who flew 16 aircraft. Overall, 1,972 Hunters were produced by Hawker Siddeley and under licence. In British service, the aircraft was replaced by the English Electric Lightning, the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.