Me 262 HG 3 High-speed research
Adolf Busemann had proposed swept wings as early as 1935; Messerschmitt researched the topic from 1940. In April 1941, Busemann proposed fitting a 35 swept wing (Pfeilflgel II, literally "arrow wing II") to the Me 262, the same wing-sweep angle later used on both the American F-86 Sabre and Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter jets. Though this was not implemented, he continued with the projected HG II and HG III (Hochgeschwindigkeit, "high-speed") derivatives in 1944, designed with a 35 and 45 wing sweep, respectively.

Interest in high-speed flight, which led him to initiate work on swept wings starting in 1940, is evident from the advanced developments Messerschmitt had on his drawing board in 1944. While the Me 262 V9 Hochgeschwindigkeit I (HG I) flight-tested in 1944 had only small changes compared to combat aircraft, most notably a low-profile canopytried as the Rennkabine (literally "racing cabin") on the ninth Me 262 prototype for a short timeto reduce drag, the HG II and HG III designs were far more radical. The projected HG II combined the low-drag canopy with a 35 wing sweep and a V-tail (butterfly tail). The HG III had a conventional tail, but a 45 wing sweep and turbines embedded in the wing roots.