List of aircraft of World War II
Operational aircraft -- Transport and utility aircraft
Table:
Name of aircraft

Year
in service

Country of origin

Operator(s)
if different from country of origin

Airspeed Horsa
1942
UK
UK, US

Antonov A-7
1942
USSR

DFS 230
1938
Germany

de Havilland Australia DHA-G
1942
Australia

General Aircraft Hamilcar
1942
UK

Gotha Go 242
1941
Germany

Gribovski G-11
1941
USSR

Kokusai Ku-8
1941
Japan

Kolesnikov-Tsibin KC-20
1942
USSR

Maeda Ku-1
1941
Japan

Messerschmitt Me 321 Gigant
1941
Germany

Slingsby Hengist
1942
UK

Waco CG-3
1942
US

Waco CG-4/Hadrian
1942
US
US, UK

Waco CG-13
1945
US

Waco CG-15
1943
US

Taking into account the accompanying table and the passages listed below.

Give the answer to the question: This German transport glider ceased production in 1945 but entered into service in what year ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Use only the information given.

The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British troop-carrying glider used during the Second World War . It was developed and manufactured by Airspeed Limited , alongside various subcontractors ; the type was named after Horsa , the legendary 5th-century conqueror of southern Britain . Having been greatly impressed by the effective use of airborne operations by Nazi Germany during the early stages of the Second World War , such as during the Battle of France , the Allied powers sought to establish capable counterpart forces of their own . The British War Office , determining that the role of gliders would be an essential component of such airborne forces , proceeded to examine available options . An evaluation of the General Aircraft Hotspur found it to lack the necessary size , thus Specification X.26/40 was issued . It was from this specification that Airspeed Limited designed the Horsa , a large glider capable of accommodating up to 30 fully equipped paratroopers , which was designated as the AS 51 . The Horsa was inducted in large numbers by the British Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) ; both services used it to conduct various air assault operations through the conflict . The type was used to perform an unsuccessful attack on the German Heavy Water Plant at Rjukan in Norway , known as Operation Freshman , and during the invasion of Sicily , known as Operation Husky . Large numbers of Horsa were subsequently used during the opening stages of the Battle of Normandy , being used in the British Operation Tonga and American operations . It was also deployed in quantity during Operation Dragoon , Operation Market Garden , and Operation Varsity . Further use of the Horsa was made by various other armed forces , including the United States Army Air Forces .
The Antonov A-7 was a Soviet light troop military glider of World War II .
The DFS 230 was a German transport glider operated by the Luftwaffe in World War II . It was developed in 1933 by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug ( DFS - German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight ) with Hans Jacobs as the head designer . The glider was the German inspiration for the British Hotspur glider and was intended for airborne assault operations . In addition to the pilot , the DFS-230 glider had room for nine men who sat close together on a narrow bench located in the middle of the fuselage ( half facing port , half facing starboard ) . Entry and exit to the cramped interior was by a single side door . The front passenger could operate its only armament , a machine gun . It was an assault glider , designed to land directly on top of its target , so it was equipped with a parachute brake . This allowed the glider to approach its target in a dive at an angle of eighty degrees and land within 20 metres ( 60 ft ) of its target . It could carry up to 1,200 kg ( 2,600 lb ) of cargo . It played significant roles in the operations at Fort Eben-Emael , the Battle of Crete , and in the rescue of Benito Mussolini . It was also used in North Africa . However , it was used chiefly in supplying encircled forces on the Eastern Front such as supplying the Demyansk Pocket , the Kholm Pocket , Stalingrad , and the defenders of Festung Budapest ( until February 12 , 1945 ) .
The de Havilland Australia DHA-G2 was a Second World War Australian transport glider based on the earlier prototype DHA-G1 . Only two prototype G1 and six production G2 gliders were built .
The General Aircraft Limited GAL . 49 Hamilcar or Hamilcar Mark I was a large British military glider produced during the Second World War , which was designed to carry heavy cargo , such as the Tetrarch or M22 Locust light tank . When the British airborne establishment was formed in 1940 by the order of Prime Minister Winston Churchill it was decided to develop a large glider which would be able to transport heavy equipment in support of airborne troops . General Aircraft Limited were chosen in January 1941 to develop this glider , which they designated the GAL . 49 'Hamilcar ' . It was designed to transport a single light tank or two Universal Carriers . A number of problems , which included vacillation by the War Office on the number of gliders it wanted , and poor management by GAL , led to delays in the production of the Hamilcar , and the first production glider was assembled only in mid-1943 . These problems were only partially solved , and production of the glider continued to be slow , hampered by difficulties in finding suitable locations to store and construct the Hamilcars once their parts were produced . A total of 344 Hamilcars had been built when production ended in 1946 . Hamilcars were only used on three occasions , and only in support of British airborne forces . They first saw action in June 1944 , when approximately thirty were used to carry 17-pounder anti-tank guns , transport vehicles and Tetrarch light tanks into Normandy in support of British airborne forces during Operation Tonga . In September 1944 a similar number of Hamilcars were used to transport anti-tank guns , transport vehicles and supplies for airborne troops as part of Operation Market Garden .
The Gotha Go 242 was a transport glider used by the Luftwaffe during World War II . It was an upgrade over the DFS 230 in both cargo/troop capacity and flight characteristics . Though it saw limited action , it appeared in multiple variants .
The Gribovsky G-11 ( Russian : Грибовский Г-11 ) was a Soviet light troop/cargo military glider of World War II .
The Kokusai Ku-8-II ( 国際 ク8 四式特殊輸送機 , Kokusai ku 8 yonshiki tokushū yusōki ) ( Kokusai Army Type 4 Special Transport Glider ) was a Japanese military glider used during the Second World War .
The Kolesnikov-Tsibin KC-20 or KTs-20 ( Russian : КЦ-20 ) was a Soviet light troop military glider of World War II .
The Maeda Ku-1 , long designation Maeda Army Type 2 Small Glider , was a small twin boom Japanese military glider . It was primarily used for training , and was superseded by the Kokusai Ku-7 , which was effectively a scaled-up version of the design . Approximately 100 were produced .
The Messerschmitt Me 321 Gigant was a large German cargo glider developed and used during World War II . Intended to support large scale invasions , the Me 321 saw very limited use due to the low availability of suitable tug aircraft , high vulnerability whilst in flight and the difficult ground handling , both at base and at destination landing sites . The Me 321 was developed , in stages , into the six-engined Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant , which removed some of the problems with ground handling , but vulnerability to ground fire and aerial attack remained a constant problem during operations of all variants .
The Slingsby Hengist was a British military glider designed and built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd. Like other British troop carrying gliders in the Second World War , it was named after military figures whose name began with H , in this case the Jute invader Hengist .
The Waco CG-3A was a US light troop military glider of World War II .
The Waco CG-4A was the most widely used American troop/cargo military glider of World War II . It was designated the CG-4A by the United States Army Air Forces , and named Hadrian ( after the Roman emperor ) in British military service . Designed by the Waco Aircraft Company , flight testing began in May 1942 , and eventually more than 13,900 CG-4As were delivered .
The Waco CG-13 was an American military transport glider aircraft developed during World War II .
The Waco CG-15 was an American military glider , which was developed from the CG-4 . Although outwardly similar to its predecessor and carrying the same number of passengers , a number of changes in the design , including shortened wings and a more streamlined nose enabled it to travel faster . 1,000 were ordered and 473 were delivered before production ceased . Two were transferred to the Navy for testing as the XLR2W-1 . One unit was converted into an XPG-3 powered glider which used two Jacobs R-755-9 radial engines .