When we heard that Panzerkampf had sold through its initial batch of MiG’s we couldn’t believe our ears. Surely a product as successful as the “Farmer-C” was going to be followed up by a new batch of product or, at the very least, even more models that would dazzle the hobby and satisfy the retail trade.
Well, it looks as if our prayers have been answered. According to our distributor, three new models are on the horizon, all expected to hit the streets some time in March. Bear in mind, the upcoming MiG-19PM, better known by the NATO reporting name of “Farmer-E” is a bit different than the original MiG-19S or “Farmer-C” in a very important way. The PM variant had its cannons removed entirely, a bit of a bummer if you like close-in dogfighting, which was typified by air-to-air combat in the Korean conflict. The PM is, however, armed with four Kaliningrad K-5M (NATO: AA-1 “Alkali”)beam-riding missiles, one of the earliest attempts at taking down adversarial aircraft by other means than the traditional gun or cannon.
Beam-riding, also known as Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding (LOSBR), beam guidance or radar beam riding is a technique of directing a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. The name refers to the way the missile flies down the guidance beam, which is aimed at the target. It is one of the simplest guidance systems and was widely used on early missile systems, however it had a number of disadvantages for long-range targeting and is now found typically only in short-range roles. This version of the MiG-19 entered production in 1957.
Look for all three versions to beam in this March.