From the drones Bayraktar TB2 to the fighter plane F-35 Lightning II. Combat military aviation is known for the technology embedded in aircraft.
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But that doesn’t mean that aircraft that entered service seven decades ago are still considered useful combat tools, even in the hands of some of the world’s leading military powers.
Check out the 5 oldest combat aircraft still in service worldwide. The data is from the World Air Forces yearbook.
MiG-17
The subsonic fighter plane MiG-17 entered service in the Soviet Air Force in 1952. An evolution of the MiG-15 (a project developed with technology from the Germans during World War II), it was a formidable adversary to the much more modern American fighters during the Vietnam War.
The North Korean Air Force still has 106 examples of the jet, in its Shenyang F-5 variant, which was licensed in China in the 1960s.
B-52
In service since 1955, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is still the main plane of the U.S. strategic bomber force, with 72 units in service.
The secret to its continued service is the combination of a good payload (up to 32 tons of bombs), range (over 14,000 km), and relatively low operational costs. The B-52 is expected to remain in service until 2050.
MiG-19
The MiG-19, from 1955, was one of the world’s first supersonic fighters, capable of flying up to Mach 1.35.
Like the MiG-17, it remains in service as the Shenyang J-6, the name given to planes produced in China until the 1980s. In addition to North Korea, it’s still present in the military aviation of Myanmar, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Tupolev Tu-95
In service since 1956, the turboprop bomber Tupolev Tu-95 survived the end of the Soviet Union and remains in active service in Russia.
Like the B-52, it remains an effective weapon due to a combination of good payload (15,000 kg), range (15,000 km), and relatively low operational costs.
MiG-21
The Soviet MiG-21 is the most produced supersonic fighter in history, with 10,645 units manufactured just in the former Soviet Union between 1959 and 1985.
India has the world’s largest fleet of MiG-21s, with 128 units still in service. Until recently, Romania was one of the NATO member countries that still used the Soviet fighter.
