It was used by the North Vietnamese Air Force during the Vietnam War, with the first deliveries taking place in 1965 and serving until the 1990s in interception missions, when they were retired to be replaced, together with the Shenyang F-6 (license production of the MiG-19), by either the MiG-21 or the Sukhoi Su-27.
It was a Shenyang F-5 who achieved the first aerial victory made by a North Vietnamese aircraft. On 3rd April 1965 an F-5 piloted by Pham Ngoc Lan, claimed to have shot down an American F-8E over Thanh Hoa province.
It was also the aircraft that the North Korean volunteer unit, named 'Doan Z', was supplied with in March 1967. They were based in Kep, in Hanoi. They were given old variants of the F-5 as they were a copy of the regular MiG-17 and not the MiG-17F.
Vo Van Man, another North Vietnamese Ace, flew the F-5 frequently during the aerial battles that took place in May 1967. He was shot down and killed while at the controls on 14th May, downed by an AIM-7E missile fired from a F-4C Phantom.
Another ace who flew the F-5 was Nguyen Nhat Chieu, who, on 20th September 1965 shot down an US Navy F-4B over Nha Ham, in Ha Boc province. That was his first aerial score and he went on to become a respected MiG-21 ace.
The last ace on this post, Luu Huy Chao, was flying the F-5 depicted below, when his formation, comprised of four fighters, was ordered to attack a formation of F-105s on 19th April 1967 when they were flying over Cam Thuy. The F-105s were able to escape towards the Gulf of Tonkin, however, being that one of the many sorties flew by that pilot.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenyang_J-5
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
3. Osprey - Aircraft of the Aces 130 - MiG-17-19 Aces of the Vietnam War
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