Автор: Steve Davies, Chris Davey
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2005
isbn: 1841769096
Количество страниц: 100
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The F-15E Strike Eagle has been at the center of every single conflict in which the US has been involved since 1990. This remarkable aircraft has repeatedly struck targets where no other Coalition, NATO or US fighter has been able to go, breaking records for combat endurance and effectiveness. In the last decade, the Strike Eagle has been consistently upgraded to accommodate the latest weapons and electronic equipment. This book provides a thorough study of this versatile strike aircraft, as well as exploring its role in Operation Desert Storm (aka The Persian Gulf War, 1990-1991) and, more recently, the Balkans (1991-1995), Afghanistan (2001-present) and Iraq (2003-present).
Автор: Alan C. Carey, Tom Tullis
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2002
isbn: 1841763837
Количество страниц: 97
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
Osprey's examination of the PV Ventura/Harpoon Units and of their participation in World War II (1939-1945). A development of the successful Lockheed ‘medium twins’ of the late 1930s, the PV Ventura/Harpoon family of patrol bombers saw widespread service with both the US Navy/Marine Corps and the TAF and Commonwealth from October 1942 onwards. The USAAF also used surplus Venturas originally ordered by the RAF, designated B-34 Lexingtons, in the bomber training and coastal patrol roles. The final variant in this family was the larger PV-2 Harpoon, which was built to a US Navy requirement from March 1944 onwards. Used primarily in the Pacific, 470 Harpoons saw frontline service on anti-shipping and submarine patrols through to VJ-Day. This book covers each of these variants in complete illustrated detail.
Автор: Warren Thompson, Mark Styling
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2000
isbn: 1855327252
Количество страниц: 98
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The first aircraft to be purposely designed as a radar-equipped nightfigher, Northrop's P-61 Black Widow was heavily influenced by early RAF combat experience with radar-equipped aircraft in the years 1940/41 of World War II (1939-1945). Built essentially around the bulky Radiation Laboratory SCR-720 radar, which was mounted in the aircraft's nose, the P-61 proved to be the largest fighter ever produced for frontline service by the USAAF. Twin-engined and twin-boomed, the Black Widow was armed with a dorsal barbette of four 0.50-in Browning machine guns and two ventrally-mounted 20 mm cannon. This volume features all the frontline users of the mighty P-61, and includes many first-hand accounts from pilots and gunners who saw action in the Pacific, Mediterranean and Western Europe.
Автор: Martin Bowman, Chris Davey
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 1999
isbn: 1855328917
Количество страниц: 98
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The third volume in the trilogy of Combat Aircraft titles devoted to de Havilland's 'wooden wonder', this book focuses on the Mosquito photo-recce variants, and their users. The design's superb performance, and ability to escape interception by enemy fighters made the Mosquito the ideal choice for the RAF's then embryonic photographic reconnaissance force. The production standard PR1 subsequently became the first Mosquito variant of any kind to see operational service with the RAF, flying its first sortie [over France] on 20 September 1941. These aircraft flew all manner of bomber support missions ranging from simple post-raid photo-recce to weather checking and experimental H2X radar photo-mapping. All are detailed in this volume.
Автор: Barrett Tillman
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2004
isbn: 1855329026
Количество страниц: 97
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
As its name suggests, the Avenger meted out severe retribution on the Japanese in the Pacific, participating in every major engagement through to VJ-Day. As a key weapon of World War II (1939-1945), the Avenger was so highly valued by the US Navy that its demand for the aircraft soon outstripped Grumman's production capacity, so General Motors [GM] was contracted to build the near identical TBM from September 1942 onwards. Over 1000 Avengers also saw action with the Fleet Air Arm in both the Atlantic and the Pacific through to VJ-Day, and two squadrons of RNZAF TBDs fought alongside American Avengers on Bougainville in 1944.
Автор: Farzad Bishop, Tom Cooper
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2003
isbn: 1841766585
Количество страниц: 100
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
Different versions of the jet have provided the backbone of the frontline strength of the Iranian air force since the 1970s, and whole generations of Iranian pilots and ground personnel have been trained to fly and maintain them. Indeed, the type bore the brunt of active combat operations during the long war with Iraq. Iranian F-4 Phantom IIs were also some of best equipped examples ever exported by the USA. Some Iranian Phantom II pilots gathered immense experience on the type, flying it in combat for more than ten years. This book removes the veil of secrecy surrounding Iranian Phantom II operations since the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).
Автор: Chris Chant, Mark Rolfe
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2001
isbn: 1841762954
Количество страниц: 99
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
In August 1990 Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded and occupied the small Arab state of Kuwait. This book analyses the ensuing Gulf War (16 January - 28 February 1991) - a war fought to expel Iraq and restore Kuwaiti independence if not, as one British MP tartly observed, to defend democracy. The allies under General Schwarzkopf launched five weeks of air attacks, deploying 1,800 technologically highly advanced aircraft from the US, British, French and Saudi air forces. Many of these machines, including the British Tornadoes and US F-117A Stealth fighters, had never before engaged in combat, and their combined assault, watched by millions on TV, combined impressive accuracy with firepower to which the Iraqi forces had no answer.
Автор: Christopher Chant
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2001
isbn: 1841762938
Количество страниц: 99
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The Falklands War (1982), fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina for the possession of the Falkland Islands, was probably the last 'colonial' war that will ever be undertaken by the British. This book shows how the key to British success was the speed with which the British gained and then maintained air superiority over the islands and the waters around them with their small force of Sea Harrier STOVL warplanes, which operated from two aircraft carriers. Though subsonic, the Sea Harrier and its Sidewinder AAM were a combination altogether superior to Argentina's mix of supersonic and subsonic warplanes with older weapons, and this advantage was emphasised by the significantly greater tactical acuity of the British pilots. The Argentine pilots fought with considerable piloting skill and enormous courage, and scored a number of stunning successes against British warships, but ultimately they could not prevent the British landing and the following land campaign that resulted in complete Argentine defeat.
Автор: Shlomo Aloni, Mark Rolfe
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2001
isbn: 1841762946
Количество страниц: 100
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
When the UN called for the end of the British mandate and the partition of Palestine into two independent states, the RAF found itself under attack from both sides. Tracing the development of hostilities in the Middle East, this book covers the period from the establishment of the first proper Israeli Air Force in 1948 to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Israel's War of Independence against its Arab neighbours, the inevitable 'round two', the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Six Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur wars of 1973 and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 are all detailed in this fascinating chronicle of war in the Middle East.
Автор: Brad Elward
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2002
isbn: 1841762644
Количество страниц: 100
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
The second of two books on the Navy's Phantom II MiG killers of the Vietnam War (1955-1975), this book covers the numerous actions fought out over North Vietnam during the Linebacker I and II operations of 1972-73. No fewer than 17 MiGs were downed during this period, five of them by the Navy's sole aces of the conflict, Lts Randy Cunningham and Willie Driscoll of VF-96. Drawing on primary sources such as surviving Phantom II aircrew and official navy documentation, the author has assembled the most precise appraisal of fighter operations involving US Navy Phantom II units and those elusive MiGs ever seen in print.