Fighter jets have been around for decades, having first flown in 1944. That was the German Messerschmitt Me 262, and it didn't take long for the other nations of the world to begin using jet technology. While most of the attention on fighter jets today is on modern marvels like the F-35 Lightning II, they're hardly the only aircraft flying the unfriendly skies. Nations around the world have a variety of fighter jets in their inventories, and some of them are incredibly old.
The oldest fighter jet
still in operation today is the Shenyang J-5, also known in export guise as the Shenyang F-5, which is among many old fighters and bombers still flown by the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK). While the DPRK isn't actively engaged in sharing the numbers of its arsenal with the rest of the world, observers in the West are confident that the nation still flies the J-5. The fighter first flew on July 19, 1956, as the first fighter jet in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, but its history goes back even further.
The J-5 is a licensed derivative of the Soviet Union's Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, which replaced the MiG-15 as the Soviet Union's principal fighter plane. More than 20 nations flew the MiG-17 during its lifetime, and one still does. According to the 2025 World Air Forces, the DPRK continues to maintain and operate 106 J-5s, though it's anyone's guess whether they're still airworthy some 70 years after they were built. Until the DPRK releases information to the contrary, it's safe to say that the J-5 is the oldest fighter jet still in use as of mid-2025.
Read more: 11 Of The Most Iconic Ground Attack Military Planes In History
Why The DPRK Continues To Fly Such Old Fighters
The reason why the DPRK continues to fly old aircraft like the Shenyang J-5 is primarily a lack of options. The nation doesn't produce its own fighters, so it flies what it's been able to purchase from other nations. The DPRK wants to bolster its air defense capabilities, and one of the ways it's doing this is by purchasing old aircraft. While these aren't new by any measure, they still help to modernize the DPRK's ability to counter airborne threats, and the J-5, while old, remains a useful fighter.
The MiG-17 made a difference in Operation MiG Alley during the Korean War, suggesting that its Chinese counterpart will be equally capable in similar operations. Realistically, the J-5 is woefully incapable of standing up to modern fighters, but it can handle similarly aging aircraft. The J-5 is powered by a single Klimov VK-1F afterburning turbojet engine, which enables the fighter to reach a subsonic maximum speed of 712 mph. The J-5 has a range of around 1,035 miles with added drop tanks, and it has a service ceiling of nearly 55,000 feet.
The J-5's biggest disadvantage compared to modern fighters is its armaments, which include one 37mm cannon, two 23mm cannons, and four air-to-air missiles. Modern fighters rarely use their cannons, as most air-to-air combat is conducted beyond the line of sight with air-to-air missiles; however, the ones carried by the J-5 are inferior to their modern Western counterparts. Despite this uncomfortable reality of modern aerial warfare, the DPRK continues to maintain its fleet of Soviet-era Chinese knockoff fighters.
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