The first of the second generation of Soviet jet fighters, and the first supersonic interceptor to enter service with PVO was the MiG-19S, which entered production in 1955. Almost immediately, the type became involved in several intercepts of Western reconnaissance aircraft, though without much success before autumn 1957, when one of the PVO’s MiG-19S pilots became the first to visually observe a U-2 over the USSR. Marred by problems caused by poor insulation between the engines and fuel tanks in the rear fuselage, and overheating of these and the hydraulics system, the MiG-19 continued soldiering and on 1 July 1960, Captain Vasyli Polyakov from the 174th Guards Interceptor Aviation Regiment shot down the RB-47H 53-4281 over the Bering Sea, killing four of the crew. While the appearance of Polyakov’s MiG-19S remains unknown, this example is known to have served with 365th Interceptor Aviation Regiment based at Aivazian AB, on the Kola Peninsula, around the same time. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)