[3] After World War II, the Albanian Air Force finally came into existence on 24 April 1951 when Albania was equipped with Soviet aircraft.

[4] Albania cut diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in 1962, leading to a shift to China for the supply of necessary parts to maintain its MiGs.

[5] After the collapse of USSR-Albanian relations, significant numbers of Shenyang J-6 fighters (Chinese copy of the MiG-19S), were acquired from China.

[citation needed] Due to the collapse of relations between Albania and the Chinese, maintenance became extremely difficult and the number of deadly incidents involving Mikoyan fighters increased.

Despite Albanian efforts and some initial success in repairing the engines of the MiGs, the lack of specific jet fuel forced authorities to start production locally, resulting in low-quality production (the first attempt was in 1961, when the Kuçova factory produced the special jet fuel (a derivative of kerosene called TSI).

[citation needed] Following the fall of communism in Albania in 1990, the air force had 200 jets and 40 helicopters, and four Il-14 transport planes.

[5] In the early 90s, in an effort to keep the fighter jets flying, the Albanian Air Force received spare parts from Bulgaria and engines from the ex-GDR.

[citation needed] The Albanian fighter jets were finally withdrawn from active service in late 2004 after the last deadly incident involving a J-6C which crashed during take-off from the military area at Mother Teresa Airport in Tirana.