Poland was building licensed version called PZL Lim-5. MiG-17 served with air forces of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, USSR, North Korea, People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Albania, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Yemen, Indonesia, Kambodia, Sri Lanka, Cuba, Guinea, Uganda, Sudan, and Somalia. The fuselage is round. Circular air intake in the nose is split vertically in half. A long antenna protrudes forward from the nose.
Tail fin is long and swept.
A single fin runs under the fuselage. Both wings and tailplane are swept. Guns are mounted in the wings close to the fuselage. Landing gear retracts in the fuselage and wings. In the early 1950s, USSR came to a conclusion that it needed a new all-weather interceptor.