Turbojets consist of an air inlet, an air compressor, a combustion chamber, a gas turbine (that drives the air compressor) and a nozzle. The air is compressed into the chamber, heated and expanded by the fuel combustion and then allowed to expand out through the turbine into the nozzle where it is accelerated to high speed to provide propulsion.

Turbojets are quite inefficient for commertial flights and very noisy. Most modern aircraft use turbofans instead for economic reasons. Turbojets are still very common in medium range cruise missiles, due to their high exhaust speed, low frontal area and relative simplicity.