 On 2 June 1972 a MiG-19 was the first recorded jet fighter to be shot down in aerial combat by cannon fire at supersonic speeds, by a USAF F-4 Phantom flown by Phil Handley.The VPAF claimed 12 enemy aircraft were shot down by MiG-19s, at a cost of 8 MiG-19s lost in air combat

In 1962, Egyptian MiG-19s saw some action in the ground-attack role during the civil war in Yemen that took place during the early 1960s.The first reported air combat in the Middle East with the MiG-19 happened on 29 November 1966 when an Israeli Air Force (IAF) Dassault Mirage III shot down two Egyptian MiG-19s which were trying to intercept an Israeli reconnaissance Piper J-3 Cub in Israeli airspace.