 Deliveries of the new fighter to the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) began in June 1955, with the type being publicly unveiled on 3 July that year, when 48 MiG-19s took part in a flypast during an airshow at Tushino Airfield, Moscow.During their service with Soviet Anti-Air Defense and in East Germany, MiG-19s were involved in multiple interceptions of Western reconnaissance aircraft.The first documented encounter with a Lockheed U-2 took place in the autumn of 1957.