Luftvåben og luftkrigsførelse

Uno de los eventos mas importantes en la historia de la aviacion es aun desconocido por muchos, debido al encubrimiento de los paises que lo protagonizaron, los Estados Unidos y la Union Sovietica. Ocurrio durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la Guerra Fria que le siguio, y tuvo serias consecuencias sobre la politica internacional.Caido del cielo recrea como el dictador de la Union Sovietica, Joseph Stalin, hizo una copia exacta del B-29 norteamericano --bombardero estrategico superpesado de largo alcance-- y lo convirtio en el TU-4 sovietico. Es un relato lleno de accion e intriga, donde destacan figuras de la mas alta jerarquia de la epoca, matizado por una compleja historia de amor entre los protagonistas.El B-29 reunia todas las caracteristicas que hicieron posible el lanzamiento de las bombas atomicas que destruyeron las ciudades japonesas de Hiroshima y Nagasaki en 1945. Ese evento fue catalogado como un recurso de intimidacion contra los sovieticos. Ante esa nueva amenaza, Stalin estaba dispuesto a hacer lo necesario para apoderarse de la novel tecnologia del asombroso avion norteamericano. Y tal como narra Caido del Cielo, finalmente lo logro.

Uno de los eventos más importantes en la historia de la aviación es aún desconocido por muchos, debido al encubrimiento de los países que lo protagonizaron, los Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética. Ocurrió durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la Guerra Fría que le siguió, y tuvo serias consecuencias sobre la política internacional.Caído del cielo recrea cómo el dictador de la Unión Soviética, Joseph Stalin, hizo una copia exacta del B-29 norteamericano -bombardero estratégico superpesado de largo alcance- y lo convirtió en el TU-4 soviético. Es un relato lleno de acción e intriga, donde destacan figuras de la más alta jerarquía de la época, matizado por una compleja historia de amor entre los protagonistas.El B-29 reunía todas las características que hicieron posible el lanzamiento de las bombas atómicas que destruyeron las ciudades japonesas de Hiroshima y Nagasaki en 1945. Ese evento fue catalogado como un recurso de intimidación contra los soviéticos. Ante esa nueva amenaza, Stalin estaba dispuesto a hacer lo necesario para apoderarse de la novel tecnología del asombroso avión norteamericano. Y tal como narra Caído del Cielo, finalmente lo logró.

The story of what really led to Germany losing the battle of Stalingrad - the inability of the Luftwaffe to keep Sixth Army supplied throughout the winter of 1942-43 - and why this crucial airlift failed.Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering's failure to deliver his promise to keep Sixth Army supplied at Stalingrad was one of the most hard-hitting strategic air failures of World War II. 300 tons a day of supplies were required to sustain the Sixth Army, flown in against a Soviet fighter force whose capabilities were rapidly being transformed. The Luftwaffe's failure left Sixth Army trapped, vulnerable and too weak to attempt a breakout. The destruction of Sixth Army was one of the major turning points in World War II but the Luftwaffe's crucial role in this disaster has often been overlooked. Some claim the attempt was doomed from the beginning but, in this intriguing book, author William E. Hiestand explains how the Germans had amassed sufficient aircraft to, at least theoretically, provide the supplies needed. Demands of aircraft maintenance, awful weather and, in particular, the Soviet air blockade crippled the airlift operation. In addition, the employment of increasing numbers of modern aircraft by the Soviet Air Force using more flexible tactics, coupled with Chief Marshal Novikov's superior Air Army organisation proved decisive. The Luftwaffe did eventually recover and mounted focused operations for control of limited areas of the Eastern Front, but overall it had lost its dominance. Packed with strategic diagrams and maps, archive photos and artwork of aerial battles over Stalingrad, and including bird's eye views of Operation Winter Storm and airlift operations and tactics, this title clearly demonstrates how the Luftwaffe lost its strategic initiative in the air.

Using rare first-hand accounts from Me 262 pilots, Robert Forsyth examines what it was like to fly the world's most advanced interceptor in the deadly skies over Germany in 1944-45. Right from its operational debut in the summer of 1944, the Me 262 outclassed anything the Allies had in terms of speed and firepower ratio, offering a formidable punch with four 30 mm Mk 108 nose-mounted cannon, and a Jumo 004 jet engine. The problem the Luftwaffe faced, however, was one of numbers. Towards the end of the war, availability of machines and trained pilots was scarce, and it is only thanks to the exploits of a handful of veteran Jagdwaffe aces such as Adolf Galland, Walter Krupinski and Johannes Steinhoff, that the aircraft made a significant impact on the air war and was the source of considerable concern to the Allies. Filled with specially commissioned artwork including action-packed ribbon diagrams, battlescenes, armament views and maps, Robert Forsyth offers the definitive technical and historical guide to the state-of-the-art Me 262, using rare photographs and pilots' first-hand accounts.

With first-hand insight into the into the key role of the US Air Force's fighter-bomber from the Vietnam War through to Operation Desert Storm during the First Gulf War, this book is an unmissable account of some of the most dangerous and demanding missions in the two wars.The advent of the surface-to-air missile (SAM) in the early 1950s threatened the whole concept of aerial bombing from medium and high altitude. Countermeasures were developed during the Korean War, but with little initial success. It was only in the closing stages of the Vietnam War, with the F-4Cww Phantom II (Wild Weasel 4), that this equipment started to become successful enough to allow a substantial investment in converting 116 F-4E Phantom IIs into dedicated SEAD aircraft. This move introduced a new generation of anti-radar missiles which became invaluable in later operations including operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Northern Watch over Iraq. This volume features dynamic archival photography from crews who flew the jet, alongside mission accounts and technical details of the development and fielding of the F-4 Wild Weasel in its various iterations. Including specially commissioned artwork of 'sharkmouthed' Phantom IIs in Vietnam jungle camouflage and more modern USAF 'Ghost Gray', this book is the ultimate visual and technical guide to the F-4 Phantom II Wild Weasel Units in combat.

Within just 15 years the Soviet air defenses progressed from conventional AA guns and piston engine fighters to SAMs and Mach 2 capable missile armed interceptors.

This is volume three of a five volume collection that chronicles the author's journey from novice pilot to professional pilot, while adding technical lessons learned along the way. The author has a following through his website, www.code7700.com, which receives nearly 2 million hits every month. The website is used by airline, business, corporate, and military pilots for references to pilot procedures and techniques. The website also receives frequent visits from aviation industry, government offices, and colleges throughout the world. One of the most requested parts of the website are for more and more of the lessons, told in story form. The website author's web name is "Eddie," and many of the stories are told in an easy to read style, in Eddie's first person voice.While this book can stand alone, it takes up after volume two. After a year at an Air Force leadership school Eddie returns to the cockpit at the 89th Military Airlift Wing to fly brand new Gulfstream IIIs. Eddie fully embraces a new philosophy of flight, based on knowing everything you can and maintaining a very high level of proficiency. Along the way he discovers the dangers of thinking you know it all by falling for it, hook, line, and sinker. But he soon discovers this way of thinking doesn't agree with his ideas of humility and the need to always learn. In the end he becomes a better pilot (stick and rudder and instrument flying) and a better aviator (judgement). Each chapter relates a series of flight experiences and is followed by a lesson that either reinforces the experiences or provides a counter-point to those experiences.

The authors review the chronology of Russian air operations in Syria, and assess the strategic and operational blueprint, basing strategy and force disposition, effectiveness of the Russian air campaign, and its applicability to future campaigns.

The first English-language book to examine the crucial part air power played in the Soviet-Afghan War.The Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan was fought as much in the air as on the ground. From the high-level bombing raids that blasted rebel-held mountain valleys, to the Mi-24 helicopter gunships and Su-25 jets that accompanied every substantial army operation, Soviet control of the air was a crucial battlefield asset. Vital to every aspect of its operations, Mi-8 helicopters ferried supplies to remote mountain-top observation points and took the bodies of fallen soldiers on their last journey home in An12 'Black Tulips'. But this was not a wholly one-sided conflict. Even before the Afghan rebels began to acquire man-portable surface-to-air missiles such as the controversial US 'Stinger,' they aggressively and imaginatively adapted. They learnt new techniques of camouflage and deception, set up ambushes against low-level attacks, and even launched daring raids on airbases to destroy aircraft on the ground.Featuring information previously unknown in the West, such as the Soviets' combat-testing of Yak-38 'Forger' naval jump jets, Soviet-expert Mark Galeotti examines the rebel, Kabul government and the Soviet operation in Afghanistan, drawing deeply on Western and Russian sources, and including after-action analyses from the Soviet military. Using maps, battlescenes and detailed 'Bird's Eye Views', he paints a comprehensive picture of the air war and describes how, arguably, it was Soviet air power that made the difference between defeat for Moscow and the subsequent stalemate that they decided to disengage from.

This fully illustrated book explores the legendary B-25 Mitchell light bomber, which also excelled in various other roles. It offers period photos with informative captions and detailed text to tell the Mitchell story.

This fully illustrated book looks at the German Luftwaffe's famous bomber, the Ju 88, in all its variants. Chapters on bombers, heavy fighters, night fighters and reconnaissance sub-types are included, along with a look at foreign operators.

A must have for any aviation enthusiast, this quiz book will cover all aspects of the military, commercial, general aviation and historic aerospace sectors.

This book covers the air force of Colombia, the aircraft it flies and its history.

Glamour, danger, liberation: in a Mad Men era of commercial flight, Pan Am World Airways attracted the kind of young woman who wanted out, and wanted upRequired to have a college degree, speak two languages, and possess the political savvy of a Foreign Service officer, a jet-age stewardess serving on iconic Pan Am between 1966 and 1975 also had to be between 5′3″ and 5′9", between 105 and 140 pounds, and under twenty-six years old at the time of hire. Cooke's intimate storytelling weaves together the real-life stories of a memorable cast of characters, from small-town girl Lynne Totten, a science major who decided life in a lab was not for her, to Hazel Bowie, one of the relatively few Black stewardesses of the era, as they embraced the liberation of their new jet-set life.Cooke brings to light the story of Pan Am stewardesses' role in the Vietnam War, as the airline added runs from Saigon to Hong Kong for planeloads of weary young soldiers straight from the battlefields who were off for five days of R&R, and then flown back to war. Finally, with Operation Babylift-the dramatic evacuation of two thousand children during the fall of Saigon-the book's special cast of stewardesses unites to play an extraordinary role on the world stage.

Britain has been at the forefront of weapons technology since the industrial revolution began and pioneered guided weapons. With over 140 images, this book relates the history of these weapons and how Britain operates some of the finest guided weapons available today.

A history of the US Navy's remarkable 1945 South China Sea raid against the Japanese, the first time in history that a carrier fleet dared to rampage through coastal waters.As 1945 opened, Japan was fighting defensively everywhere. As the Allies drew closer to the Home Islands, risks of Japanese air and sea attack on the US Navy carrier force increased. US forces wanted to take the island of Luzon which provided a base for Japanese aircraft from Formosa (Taiwan) and Indochina, and from where attacks could easily be devastating for the invasion fleet. US Naval Intelligence also believed Japanese battleships Ise and Hyuga were operating out of Cam Ranh Bay. A fast carrier sweep through the South China Sea was a potential answer with the bonus that it would strike the main nautical highway for cargo from Japan's conquests in Southeast Asia.Task Force 38 would spend the better part of two weeks marauding through the South China Sea during Operation Gratitude, a month-long sweep of the area, which launched air strikes into harbors in Indochina, the Chinese coast and Formosa, while targeting shipping in the high-traffic nautical highway. By the time the Task Force exited the South China Sea, over 300,000 tons of enemy shipping and dozens of Japanese warships had been sunk. With follow-up air strikes against Japanese harbors and airfields in Formosa and the Ryukyu Islands, the success of the sweep was unprecedented.Using detailed battlescenes, maps, bird's eye views, and diagrams of air strikes at Luzon, this intriguing account of Task Force 38's reign in the South China Sea proved that aircraft carriers could dominate the land-based air power of the fading Japanese. From the Korean War through to Vietnam, to the campaigns in Iraq, aircraft carriers could sail safely offshore, knowing their aircraft would prevail on both sea and land.

Since 1950, US Navy fleet defender (fighter) squadrons--home-based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia--have served as a vital part of the country's national defense and helped to exert global US naval firepower. Over the years, NAS Oceana-based fleet defender squadrons have participated in combat during the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf Wars and in military incidents and conflicts in Libya as well as Kosovo and Afghanistan. During the Cold War, NAS Oceana-based fleet defender squadrons served as crucial deterrents to the Soviet Union's acts of aggression and provocation. More recently, NAS Oceana-based fleet defender squadrons have been highly engaged in the ongoing War on Terrorism, striking Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets in Iraq and Syria and Taliban targets in Afghanistan. Today, these squadrons stand ready to defend the United States, its naval fleets, and its interests abroad.