In the 1930s, wing sweep became an object of interest during the race to break the sound barrier. By this time, contemporary fighters had reached speeds over Mach 0.7 in dives, and sweeping back the wings, it was believed, would delay the onset of drag associated with passing Mach 1.0. In Germany, Alfred Buseman presented a paper at the 1935 Volta Conference on High Speeds in Aviation reporting the advantages of wing sweep. In the United States, the scientist Robert T. Jones heralded its advantages to the National Advisory Comittee for Aeronautics. His NACA superiors told him that sweeping back an aircraft's wings could not possibly lessen drag. Ultimately, the swept wing became a standard feature of modern military aircraft.
