Thursday, 13 August 2020

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, even more Asian users

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 is a Soviet single-seat twin-engine supersonic fighter which is capable of maintaining supersonic speeds at level flight. Its "S" variant was widely exported all around the world and it served, among many other, with the following countries:

  • Afghanistan: Afghanistan was the last customer of the Soviet-built MiG-19s. Our source claims that it was in 1965 when the Republican Afghan Air Force took delivery of 18 ex-Soviet MiG-19Ss with some of them surviving long enough to take part in the April 1978 revolution and also the ensuing civil war. The only problem is that, by 1965 there wasn't any Republican Afghan Air Force, as it wasn't created until 1973. However, we decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and drawn a speculative Afghan MiG-19S set in 1975.
  • Cambodia: According to some reports the Royal Khmer Aviation (RKA) received an unknown number of MiG-19Ss during the late 1960s when prince Norodom Sihanouk was in power. After the March 1970 pro-American coup which forced Sihanouk to exile, the fighters were taken into the Khmer Air Force (KAF) and used against the South Vietnamese FNL (National Liberation Front) partisans which were making raids into Cambodian territory.
  • Indonesia: When President Sukarno was in power during the late 1950s and early 1960s Indonesia had good relations with the USSR and took profit of the Soviet military aid. Soviet assets were supplied to the Indonesian Air Force which, among other material, there was a batch of 35 or 40 MiG-19Ss. They served with many fighter squadrons, among them the No.12 Squadron and later they were transferred to the Indonesian Naval Air Arm.
    In 1966, Sukarno was overthrown by anti-communist General Suharto and, in the ensuing wave of repression, Soviet support was cut-off. Therefore, every Soviet equipment became unserviceable due to the lack of spare parts. One MiG-19S was lost in an uncontrolled dive during an airshow killing its pilot.
    One MiG-19S is currently at display in the Indonesian Air Force Museum.









Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-19
2. Midland Publishing - Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19. The Soviet Union's First Production Supersonic Fighter
3. https://www.valka.cz/Mikojan-Gurevic-MiG-19S-kod-NATO-Farmer-C-t12470
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

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