The first proposals for jet interceptors appeared in the early 1930s when it was suggested that traditional combustion engines would soon reach their weight-thrust limit. As a result, both the Germans and the British launched jet interceptor programs. The Germans succeeded first. However, for political reasons, Germany refrained from mass producing the plane until 1944. By then, the British had completed their own jet. Compared with later jets, these first interceptors look like tinker toys. By the early 1970s, top interceptors reached speeds of Mach 2 with operational ranges in excess of one thousand miles.