MiG 19S / SM 9/3T

The K-13 air-to-air homing missile was developed from a U. S.-built Sidewinder recovered in China, and it was decided to arm all new Sovi­et fighters with this weapon. A modified version of the MiG-19, the SM – 9/3T, was used to test the new missile. Two K-l 3s were attached under an APU-13 launch rail that was itself held by the launch mechanism of the all-purpose pylon. The missile’s fire control system was neutral­ized as long as the gear was not retracted. The tests conducted with the SM-9/3T related to the separation from the APU-13 rail, the perfor­mance of the K-13 immediately after it was fired, and the effects of the missile’s solid-propellant combustion gases on the performance of the aircraft engines.

The SM-9/3T was tested with two K-13s up to Mach 1.245 at 10,800 m (35,400 feet) and up to 910 km/h at 7,600 m (491 kt at 24,900 feet). Those tests showed that the K-13s under the wing had no influence on the aircraft’s handling characteristics. The SM-9/3T was first piloted by A. V. Fedotov on 11 February 1959. Other test flights were made by another OKB pilot, P. M. Ostapyenko, ending on 3 March.