Soviet-built but often reported under the Chinese J-2 or F-2 designations, while Chinese-supplied two-seat FT-2 trainers were actually Chinese-built. Total numbers are difficult to ascertain, with reports of between fifty and eighty single-seat MiG-15 fighters having been acquired along with as much as half that many two-seat trainers. While the MiG-15 rapidly faded from being a front-line aircraft, the relatively simple design remained in service in quantity in Albania for some time, with a few of both one- and two-seat versions reported on strength as late as 2000. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 and Shenyang J-6 While the MiG-15 had introduced the Albanian military into the jet age, it was rapidly apparent that an upgrade would be necessary to give the country a defense against the next generation of NATO aircraft. The MiG-15 did not carry missiles, and so at the end of the 1950s, the Soviet Union delivered a dozen Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19PM. These fighters, armed only with air-to-air missiles, complemented the gun-armed MiG-15 in the air defense role. After splitting with the Soviet supply chain, the MiG-19PM airframes were traded to China for shipments of Shenyang J-6 aircraft under the export designation F-6. These aircraft carried both guns and missiles while being somewhat less sophisticated, yet offering the same basic performance as the original MiG-19PM. Nearly 80 of these aircraft were delivered, with some remaining until the very end of the air force's fighter operations in 2005. No FT-6 two-seat operational conversion trainers were ever deliverd to Albania. Shenyang F-5 Having severed ties with the Soviet Union, Albania turned to China for support of its military build-up. While the Soviets had already delivered some MiG-19 interceptors and China would later deliver large numbers of the MiG-19 derived J-6, a more immediate solution was provided by Beijing in the form of the Shenyang J-5, derived from the subsonic Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. The Soviets had never provided the MiG-17 to Albania, and it was inferior to the already employed MiG-19PM in speed and armament. However, the Albanian government was finding itself at odds with NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and most immediately with its neighbor, Yugoslavia, so relatively rapid deliveries of the J-5 under its export designation F-5 were made beginning in 1962. The aircraft were a significant upgrade over the MiG-15 and F-2 aircraft that equipped most Albanian units at the time with better speed and armament. Approximately 20% of the delivered aircraft were two-seat