Since Tudor times the ships of the Royal Navy have dropped anchor in Dorset's waters. The English fleet first attacked the Spanish Armada off Portland. Four captains at Trafalgar were Dorset-born. Much of the D-Day fleet set sail from Dorset. Until recently, Portland was a major naval and helicopter base, whilst Poole remains a home of the Royal Marines and Special Boat Squadron.

The conclusion of a war typically signals the beginning of a flood of memoirs and instant campaign histories, many presenting the purported, but often dubious lessons of the recent conflict. Cordesman is careful to avoid such pitfalls in this detailed and closely reasoned analysis, and helps us to begin to understand the implications of this dramatic conflict on its own terms. Based on a combination of official and unofficial (but always authoritative) sources, he builds a thorough case for the true lessons of NATO's first battle fought within Europe.

After consideration of the historical, major political, and strategic factors that set the stage for the Kosovo campaign, Cordesman critically examines the actual effectiveness of the NATO air campaigns, both in Kosovo and Serbia proper. Operations in this rugged part of Europe were difficult, and compounding the challenges of terrain and weather were the conflicting national agendas within the Allied coalition that seriously hampered focused and decisive action by NATO. Although Milosevic ultimately conceded defeat, all of these factors played an important role in limiting the intensity and shaping the military outcome of the campaign, and the likely political and strategic results were far from certain. Cordesman unflinchingly concludes, that the air campaign over Kosovo exposed deep fault lines within and among the NATO countries and fundamental flaws in the way the West wages war.

Eighty brave men made a near-suicidal first attack on Japan about four months after Pearl Harbor. President Franklin Roosevelt wanted a quick response to the Japanese ambush on Hawaii to demonstrate to the Japanese that they were not invulnerable to attack, and to give a much-needed boost to American morale. Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle was selected to plan and lead the Raid from the USS Hornet. Much has been written about the daring raid and the frightening escape through China, but little has been written about these brave men's lives before and after the Raid. This collection of biographical sketches tells us much about who these men were. Much of the biographical material was obtained from a private collection of Raider information and memorabilia that Ellen Lawson collected over a fifty-year period. Ellen was the widow of Maj. Ted Lawson-a Raider and author of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.

Flying Tiger to Air Commando is an enlisted man's story of over twenty years of service to his country. From enlistment in the Army Air Corps at age nineteen as a Private to his retirement at age 44 as a Master Sgt., his unusual tale will interest all aviation, history, and gunnery buffs. At age twenty he volunteered for the American Volunteer Group, hardly aware of China and its problems with Japan, but was soon to find out as an armorer with Chennault's famed Flying Tigers. When that elite group was broken up, he returned to the States, soon to return to the CBI theater flying as a B-25 gunner with his good friend from the Tigers, R.T. Smith, in the First Air Commandos. The end of WWII was not the end of combat for Sgt. Baisden, who saw service in the Korean War, both as an armorer in the 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron of the 8th Fighter-Bomber Group, and as a gunner on B-29s in the 93rd Heavy Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bomb Group. His last days in the Air Force were flown as an in-flight refueling technician in KC-97s with the 308th, 2nd, and 19th Air Refueling Squadrons. His down-to-earth narrative is interesting and informative, and is presented along with his own period

April Fool's Day, 1992. Author Gordon R. Page receives a call from a business associate offering him the chance to travel to Russia in hopes of acquiring a rare World War II fighter plane. He's waited for this call for years-and it's not a joke. Packed with action, intrigue, and danger, "Warbird Recovery" delivers Page's gripping true story of his journey to Russia to recover the aircraft and fulfill a lifelong dream.

In bitter winter conditions, Page journeys to St. Petersburg, Russia, in an attempt to recover a rare German Bf 109 fighter plane. But everything about traveling in the former Soviet Union only reinforces the vast differences between cultures. Placing a call, buying lunch, and even riding in a taxi-to say nothing of buying an aircraft-prove to be strange and dangerous.

Putting his life at risk, Page discovers that he must learn to negotiate and have plenty of cash on hand to ensure both his safety and his return to the United States. Yet nothing can compare to the excitement he experiences upon finding lost aircraft. Unfortunately, chasing a childhood dream just might cost him his life.

This detailed, illustrated look at the Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft features complete discussions of its design, construction, and operational use, as well as all technical systems and weapons. Developed in the 1970s as a match for the American F-15 Eagle, the aircraft remains one of the most important fighters in the current Russian arsenal, and has formed the basis for many variants including the Su-30, Su-34, and Su-35. Though larger than Russias famed MiG-29, it is extremely maneuverable and considerably more powerful. The Su-27 can also fly at extremely high angles of attackan ability it is fond of demonstrating at airshows, along with its legendary Cobra maneuver. The Su-27 remains in production, and nearly a dozen countriesincluding China, India, and Vietnamcurrently operate this high-performance aircraft. The book is superbly illustrated with more than 210 color images, and includes more than thirty color aircraft profiles displaying color schemes.

On December 18, 1972, more than one hundred U.S. B-52 bombers flew over North Vietnam to initiate Operation Linebacker II. During the next eleven days, sixteen of these planes were shot down and another four suffered heavy damage. These losses soon proved so devastating that Strategic Air Command was ordered to halt the bombing. The U.S. Air Force's poor performance in this and other operations during Vietnam was partly due to the fact that they had trained their pilots according to methods devised during World War II and the Korean War, when strategic bombers attacking targets were expected to take heavy losses. Warfare had changed by the 1960s, but the USAF had not adapted. Between 1972 and 1991, however, the Air Force dramatically changed its doctrines and began to overhaul the way it trained pilots through the introduction of a groundbreaking new training program called "Red Flag." In The Air Force Way of War, Brian D. Laslie examines the revolution in pilot instruction that Red Flag brought about after Vietnam. The program's new instruction methods were dubbed "realistic" because they prepared pilots for real-life situations better than the simple cockpit simulations of the past, and students gained proficiency on primary and secondary missions instead of superficially training for numerous possible scenarios. In addition to discussing the program's methods, Laslie analyzes the way its graduates actually functioned in combat during the 1980s and '90s in places such as Grenada, Panama, Libya, and Iraq. Military historians have traditionally emphasized the primacy of technological developments during this period and have overlooked the vital importance of advances in training, but Laslie's unprecedented study of Red Flag addresses this oversight through its examination of the seminal program.

Among the greatest developments in conventional war since 1914 has been the rise of air/land power the interaction between air forces and armies in military operations. This book examines the forging of an air support system that was used with success for the remainder of the war, the principles of which have applied ever since.

This book, first published in 1985, is an in-depth analysis of the Luftwaffe in the Second World War, using previously untapped German archives and newly-released 'Ultra' intelligence records. It looks at the Luftwaffe within the context of the overall political decision-making process within the Third Reich. It is especially valuable for its careful study of industrial production and pilot losses in the conduct of operations.

The 4th Fighter Group, armed with P-51s and aggressive, seasoned pilots, battled the Luftwaffe in the air and on the ground, achieving an impressive score of 1,016 German planes destroyed, the highest score of all Allied Groups. Instrumental in achieving this record were eighty-one pilots who became aces and men whose stories are the subject of this book. Their accounts go beyond the battles and individual victories to give a glimpse of their original motivations and their subsequent successes, failures, and often violent deaths. The accounts are written by the author, a fellow ace, who lived with them, fought with them, and survived to tell their fascinating stories.

These pieces of cloth and metal symbolize the daring, bravery, suffering and loss of men who flew in deadly aerial battles for democratic freedom. Eagles Recalled, Pilot and Aircrew Wings of Canada, Great Britain and The British Commonwealth 1913-1945 has already been hailed as the definitive work written on the subject. Designed in a comprehensive form, complete with issue dates, this publication of original and authentic insignia will appeal to curators, cataloguers, historians, collectors, as well as veterans. It contains more than 800 color, and black and white photographs and is supplemented with uniform illustrations. Much of the material contained in this publication has never been seen before by the general public. The author has also made new historical discoveries presented here for the very first time - he has accessed private collections, photographed rare museum acquisitions, and received support from historians in seven countries over a period of some ten years. This work brings to readers a detailed and comprehensive study of the brevets issued to aviators who fought with Great Britain in World Wars I and II. Warren Carroll has been a collector/ researcher for over thirty-five years and is a member of the Organization of Military Museums of Canada. He is considered one of the leading authorities on Canadian and British Commonwealth Air Force insignia.

The Hawker Hurricane has rightly earned its place in military aviation annals. Although only preceding the Spitfire by four months in its prototypic launch, the Hawker machine was available in measurably greater numbers by the Battle of Britain, a very critical stage of WWII for Britain and its Empire. Its rugged qualities saw use in the Mediterranean and Far East Theaters, and on the Russia Front. It adapted equally well to naval operations as a CAM-ship "protector" for Allied convoys and then as the first truly modern British fighter design to operate off the Fleet Air Arm's aircraft carriers. The solid wing structure lent itself naturally to the carriage of bombs and heavier-scale weaponry such as the 40 mm cannon that dealt out a fair measure of punishment. The few airworthy examples are a poignant reminder of Britain's WWII aviation prowess. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

To capture the defense reform debate surrounding the proper application of high technology in military systems, this study focuses on tactical aircraft, an area epitomizing cutting-edge technology. Air combat history is revisited (including the 1991 Persian Gulf War) to confirm, reject, or qualify positions advocating certain technologies in tactical aviation. Emphasis is placed on enduring combat ideas and aircraft design principles. The interaction between mission requirements, inventory composition, and aircraft design is discussed to illustrate the dynamics of constrained choice that enters acquisition decisions. The relevance of reform arguments in the post-Cold War era is assessed, including the impact of political and economic constraints on future force-mix options, the shift from NATO-centered contingencies to Third World Low Intensity Conflict (LIC), and the threat of conventional arms proliferation.

The Luftwaffe's Arado Ar 232 combat area transport flew for the first time in the summer of 1941, and was a state-of-the-art flying machine, abounding with technological firsts and innovations. Author David Myhra has controbuted 200 black and white photographs and line drawings from his collection, as well as color photographs of master fine scale modeler Gunter Sengfelder's Arado Ar 232A. These, together with the digital artwork of Mario Merino bring the World War II combat zone transport to life.

This historical dictionary is the first of its kind on the U.S. Air Force and antecedent organizations. The reference is based on lengthy research by Charles Bright and 57 military historians, air force officers, and aviation specialists. Over 1,050 entries survey the major commands, air forces, staff services, bases, significant battles, events, campaigns, concepts, people, equipment, legislation, and other characteristics. This landmark reference has been developed as a tool for those who know the USAF and want to investigate different subjects further and for those with only slight knowledge who need a general base for exploring air force matters more fully. The dictionary is intended for libraries, for museums and special military collections, and for all bookstores interested in the history of flight.

The volume provides a preface with guidelines for using the dictionary, a short history of the U.S. Air Force and its antecedents from 1907 to 1992. Entries are arranged alphabetically with bibliographical citations. They cover all the significant subjects of USAF history from a handful of men with flimsy balloons and flying machines to the earth-shaking aerospace giant. Cross references throughout the book help the reader have easy access to all the entries that are related or that appear under a different entry title. A full index is provided also.

A Luftwaffe Bomber Pilot Remembers is a bomber pilot's story from his early life prior to the ascension of the Nazi Party to power in Germany, his education and rise through the ranks of the Luftwaffe as a decorated bomber pilot, and even through his demotion at the hands of GAring late in the war. Also covered are Haeberlen's tribulations in a prisoner of war camp run by the Allies, and his success in post war Germany as a businessman. This book offers a unique first person perspective on the development of the war and its effect on those that were not in the highest realms of power.

In 1930s Americans were so surprised if not to say shocked by Chkalov's and Gromov's Non-stop Transpolar flight. In addition to them, there were other aviators, now almost forgotten. We would like to preserve their memory.

A detailed pictorial review of U.S. Navy airplanes from the end of World War I to the present day. All mission types are covered, including fighters, scout dive and torpedo bombers, patrol planes, utility planes, and trainers. Many variants of basic types are shown with photos and data from informative captions. An introduction is provided for each mission category, and explanations of airplane designations are provided. Striking changes in U.S. naval airplane designs through almost eight decades of progress can be seen from the earliest wood, wire, and fabric craft to the latest types entering the naval inventory. The photo coverage is excellent, with many never before published pictures of Navy types.