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Автор: Shlomo Aloni, Chris Davey
Издательство: Osprey Publishing
Год издания: 2006
isbn: 1846030471
Количество страниц: 100
Язык: english
Формат: PDF (scan)
Размер: 15.62 Мб
Каталожный номер: 96442
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By 1973, the Israeli Air Force had built a strong reputation. While its aircraft were broadly equivalent to those of its enemies, the Israelis were generally superior in training, motivation, maintenance, intelligence and command and control. This situation dramatically changed when the Israelis became the first foreign customer of the US Air Force's new F-15 Eagle, a truly superior aircraft. By 1979, Israeli F-15s were blooded in combat against the Syrians, and over the next few years destroyed dozens more Syrian aircraft with no combat losses of their own. Israeli F-15s also flew top cover in the strike against the Iraqi nuclear reactor, destroyed the PLO headquarters in Tunis, and were ready to strike during Operation Desert Storm. A new chapter in Israeli Air Force history opened with the arrival of the F-15I. Unfortunately the book does not cover the use of Israeli F-15s in Lebanon in 2006, which presumably happened after the book was written. Author Shomo Aloni not only writes about the combat usage of the F-15 by the Israelis, but also its acquisition, deployment, non-combat losses and upgrading. It's a fascinating story, told well and with Osprey's usual outstanding color plates. What is surprising is that the normally secretive Israeli Air Force allowed this kind of information to be published about a type that is in front-line service. Some errors: On page 33, the date of the photo is given as 1972 which is obviously impossible since the Israelis did not have any F-15s in 1972. In several places in the book, the F-15 is described as using the AIM-9G missile. In fact, the AIM-9G was a US Navy missile that was not compatible with the F-15, and the AIM-9J was used at this time. Despite these errors, this is a fine book.
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