Though the Cold War was responsible for decades of suspicion and mistrust between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, it was also responsible for an amazing leap forward in aircraft research, design, and development. The wild blue yonder never looked so exciting! This book features more than 120 military aircraft in service between 1945 and 1985. It covers each plane in great detail and is filled with over 2,000 illustrations and photos of each plane in action.
Each spread highlights the fascinating journey from concept and design to combat missions. Photo files, action data, facts and figures, maps, and other innovative graphics bring the action to life! Sit behind the controls of a B-52 Strato Fortress! This awesome plane began its service in 1952 and will likely continue to fly until 2040--a tribute to the designers and engineers who developed it.

Presented in an innovative landscape format, and illustrated with a wide selection of photographs, this is a fascinating and informative guide to over 120 warplanes in service around the world today. The book covers a wide range of military aircraft and includes current and future UK and European fighter aircraft such as the Panavia Tornado, as well as less well-known aircraft currently in service around the world.

Military, Civilian & Rescue Rotorcraft. Each of over 120 types is afforded a double-page entry which typically includes a colour profile, a photo file of around ten colour or b/w images, a brief history, assorted facts and figures, a specification table and colour graphics illustrating aspects of performance in comparison with its contemporaries.

Since the Wright brothers made their famous flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, aviation has emerged as the indispensable arm of American military power. In this detailed history, Charles J. Gross traces its development from the Wright brothers' triumph over gravity through the air war for Kosovo. Drawing on examples from all periods and all service branches, he explains the roles of politics, economics, and technology in shaping air power in the US armed forces and assesses the impact of military aviation on warfare. Gross discusses major developments in aircraft, doctrine, training, and operations. He also provides discussions of airlift, in-flight refueling, military budgets, industry, and interservice squabbling. He examines Eisenhower's "New Look" and MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction); McNamara's effort to use "commonality" of equipment to cut costs; Kennedy's buildup of the military; the Nixon Doctrine and the failure of air power to resolve the long drawn-out conflict in Southeast Asia; and the growing reliance on American air power in the post-Cold War world. This illustrated volume offers a broad history of American military aviation. Military professionals, scholars, policy makers, and the general public should find this book an invaluable guide to the "indispensable arm."

The book features over 280 individual military aircraft types (from the Eurofighter to the UH-60 Black Hawk, MiG-21, C-130 Hercules and T-6 Texan) and their many individual variants that are currently in service or under development. Each aircraft listing features a photograph and details of its powerplant/s, performance, weights, dimensions, armament, accommodation, operators, and development and operational history.
In addition it contains a listing of the inventories of the world's air arms and a concise review of the major developments and trends of the past two years in the world of military aviation.

Red Star vol.26
This interesting survey looks at Russian military aviation in the post-Soviet era. While difficulties with funding means that the large new aircraft programs of the Cold War era are likely to remain things of the past, military aviation in Russia is not standing still. Upgrades to existing programs and reorganization of current resources are two of the ways in which combat capability is being not just maintained but enhanced. This volume looks at programs like the new Mi-8MTKO and Mi-24PN night-capable helicopters from Mil. The latest Sukhoi upgrades such as the Su-24M2, Su-25SM, and Su-27SM are also explored, along with the programs designed to extend the capabilties of the Tu-95MS and Tu-160 bombers by allowing for the carriage of new and more capable missiles. The revamping of the Russian Air Force's training fleet with the Yakovlev's Yak-130 is also considered, contrasting the differences between the first ones built and production-standard aircraft.

Modern Military Helicopters is an up-to-date handbook based on Jane's unrivalled data-base. Fully illustrated and listing every variant, including the latest Russian designs, it is the definitive pocket guide available today.
Includes all variants; Full technical data; 200 photographs.

As the Warsaw Pact disbands and the military information on Soviet material becomes more accessible, aviation professionals and enthusiasts are studying Russian topics more intensively than before. This volume seeks to act as a base for a broader study of Soviet rotary wing aviation.

This book is about the interiors of Japanese Army and Navy aircraft flown during the Second World War. It is a detailed survey covering crew stations, instrumentation and other equipment commonly associated within the interior of military aircraft. For quick reference, each aircraft discussed is shown by at least one external overall photograph. Interior colors are also shown and discussed. This is the only English language book of its type in-print today. Fighters, night fighters, jet and rocket special attack aircraft, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and seaplanes of the Imperial Army and Navy are fully covered.

Military avionics is a complex and technically challenging field which requires a high level of competence from all those involved in the aircraft design and maintenance. As the various systems on board an aircraft evolve to become more and more inter-dependent and integrated, it is becoming increasingly important for designers to have a holistic view and knowledge of aircraft systems in order to produce an effective design for their individual components and effectively combine the systems involved.

Mikoyan built his first aircraft in 1936. The company has since gone on to produce some of the most fearsome high-performance military aircraft of the post-World War II period, such as the MiG-15, MiG-21 and MiG 29. This book describes all these aircraft and more, in detail.

Formed at the start of the "Cold War" era, the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) sprung out of the newly-created United States Air Force to serve the U.S. military throughout the world. From the Berlin Airlift to Vietnam, MATS crews and aircraft were found at every "hot spot," and MATS represented a golden era for the United States Air Force.
As well as the history of the service in general, Williams provides in-depth coverage of each type of aircraft operated. A superb selection of photographs in high quality, large-format reproduction accents the text.

The great leaps in aviation history - the Wright brothers'first flight, Lindbergh's first crossing of the Atlantic, Yeager breaking the sound barrier - were all made by pushing the boundaries of aeronautical science, wringing extraordinary performance out of experimental and untested aircraft.
However, for every success like these there were new aircraft designs which flew badly (or not at all), crashed on landing, burned up fuel at an alarming rate, exploded without warning, or pointlessly wasted millions of dollars.

Фотоальбом от Osprey.

Red Star vol.3
Aviation historians often dismiss the Polyikarpov I-16 because it did not fare well against its more modern adversaries in WWII. It was often referred to in the West by the disparaging nickname of Rata, the Russian word for rat! Nikolay Polyikarpov's I-16 was nevertheless an outstanding fighter in its day--among other things, because it was the world's first monoplane fighter with a retractable undercarriage. Its capabilities were demonstrated effectively during the Spanish Civil War and it was still in front line service when the German armed forces fell on the Soviet Union in 1941.
This book details every variant of this diminutive fighter, including development aircraft and unbuilt projects. An account is also given of Polyikarpov's early monoplane fighters that presaged the I-16 and of the later designs that evolved from it. Details are given of all surviving examples including the six aircraft that were restored to airworthy condition in Russia in the 1990s.

This twenty first installment in the popular LOCK ON series focuses on the Soviet-built Mikoyan MiG-21 MF Fishbed. In service with about 40 different air forces around the world, the MiG-21 Fishbed reached an astonishing production level of some 7500, supplying the Warsaw Pact and its allies with what became the standard military fighter aircraft of its time. Stunning full color photography captures such details as cockpit, landing gear, avionics, radar, internal cannon, external weapons and pylons, speed brakes, ejection seat, engine, parabrake housing, ground service equipment, pilots, mechanics, and much more of this enigmatic aircraft. This book provides a very rare and in-depth view of this cold war veteran, and belongs in the collections of scale modelers, aviation enthusiasts, and cold war veterans.

This is the most complete volume available on the military aircraft of the Third Reich. Hundreds of archive photographs are complemented by color illustrations to provide detailed visual profiles of the aircraft. The combination of detailed text, specifications and superb illustrations provides a unique reference work to the aircraft, their histories, their achievements and their colors.

Red Star vol.2
The development of Russian military aviation did not end with the collapse of Communism. The Su-27 has seen considerable upgrading in recent years. In effect, all versions of the Su-27 Flanker from the Su-27M onwards can be regarded as a new generation of combat aircraft -- by Russian standards. The book describes how the Sukhoi Company strives to make the most of a good design, adapting it to today's changing requirements by integrating new weapons and state-of-the-art avionics.