The Korean War, lasting 1950-1953, became the first war in which jet aircraft were used in large combat actions. Aircraft like the Republic F-84 Thunderjet, Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, and other jets set the stage for jet combat in later years. This war also saw technological improvements in transport and carrier aviation, such as the steam catapult, the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar transport, and the angled flight deck. This war also heralded the beginning of the Cold War as a true war; some would say it was the catalyst for which the Cold War was born, commenting that both the United States and the Soviet Union now had an excuse to accelerate the development of nuclear weapons.