We all love the new and advanced aircraft. But what are some of the longest-serving and oldest fighter jets still in service within the military?
Of course, if a military wants to keep an edge on the battlefield, it has to operate on the newest and the most advanced tech available. But sometimes that is simply not possible. Budgets might be too small, or the political situation too inconvenient to buy new fighter jets. So, old ones have to remain in service.
Old does not mean bad, though. First, jets can be well kept and maintained, and be as capable as they were when they first appeared. Second, they can be – and mostly are – upgraded with newer and better engines, radars, weapons, and other systems, keeping just an old shell with all-new capabilities. Third, and most important – most surviving aircraft of old models are of newer and advanced variants, introduced just before the model went out of production. Finally, we have to keep in mind that pilots, infrastructure, and tactics are what wins a fight, and characteristics – such as age – of a fighter jet is just one of many variables on a battlefield.

But it is an interesting variable nonetheless, so, let’s see what are the oldest fighter jet models still operational. This list is based on its introduction into service, and an aircraft has to belong to a category of fighter jets – meaning a design optimized for air-to-air combat, usually with ground attack capability. There are many caveats to that, but we will discuss them as we go along.

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