This book is dedicated to the command and observation tanks of the German Army in World War Two. It deals with their history, operational use, organisation, special markings, technical description, serial numbers (when available), and data on the radio equipment. The book is completed by some 105 colour profiles, produced by Jean Restayn, and by about 65 black and white historic photographs. A must for any enthusiast of the German military and of the Second World War, and a unique reference for all the serious modellers.

The national defence strategy of the United States is evolving in response to changing global environments. As Congress responds to these changes, an important aspect is the responsibility for oversight and appropriations for an aging tactical airlift fleet. The United States primary tactical airlift aircraft is the C-130. Nicknamed the Hercules, this venerable aircraft has been the workhorse of U.S. tactical airlift for the past 57 years. The majority of C-130s in the U.S. government are assigned to the U.S. Air Force, but the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard also operate sizeable C-130 fleets. The potential concerns for Congress include oversight of and appropriations for an aging C-130 fleet. This book discusses the background of the C-130 aircraft as well as the issues involved.

January 1945: the outcome of World War II has been determined. The Third Reich is in free fall as the Russians close in from the east. Berlin plans an eleventh-hour exodus for the German civilians trapped in the Red Army's way. More than 10,000 women, children, sick, and elderly pack aboard the "Wilhelm Gustloff, "a former cruise ship. Soon after the ship leaves port, three Soviet torpedoes strike it, inflicting catastrophic damage and throwing passengers into the frozen waters of the Baltic. More than 9,400 perished in the night--six times the number lost on the "Titanic." Yet as the Cold War started no one wanted to acknowledge the sinking. Drawing on interviews with survivors, as well as the letters and diaries of those who perished, award-wining author Cathryn Prince reconstructs this forgotten moment in history. She weaves these personal narratives into a broader story, finally giving this WWII tragedy its rightful remembrance.

The X-45 was born from the studies of a number of programs in the 1990's aimed at producing technology that could be incorporated into a viable uninhabited air vehicle designed to autonomously conduct a range of operational missions including strike and suppression of enemy air defences. The successful conduct of the X-45 program paved the way for the new generation of Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles being flight tested in the early part of this second decade of the 21st Century including the Boeing Phantom Ray, which is a direct descendant of the X-45 Advanced Technology Demonstrators of the previous decade.

With Shilka Publishing's "Digital Reinforcements," buy the print edition, and get the ebook FREE. Details at www.shilka.co.uk/dr

The Kaiserliche und Konigliche Kriegsmarine -- The Austro-Hungarian Navy -- was in at the beginning of World War I when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie lay in state aboard its flagship, and at the end when it dissolved along with the empire that commanded it. During the war, this small but powerful "fleet in being" forced the Allies to maintain a blockade of the Otranto Straits. German and Austro-Hungarian U-boats ran riot in the Mediterranean even though the capital ships almost never left port.

Illustrated with thirty photographs and drawings, this book provides a comprehensive and detailed listing of the ships that made up the KuK Kriegsmarine, its operations, and the unique problems this unusual fleet faced, from contentious duelling parliaments to ships built by landlocked Hungary.

Over the last 30 years, the 'technical' or armed pick-up truck has become arguably the most ubiquitous military land vehicle of modern warfare.

Harking back to the armed Jeeps and Chevrolet trucks of the SAS and Long Range Desert Group in North Africa in World War II, the world's first insurgent technicals were those of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army in Algeria in the late 1970s, followed by the Chadian use of technical in the so-called Toyota War against Libya. Since then, technicals have seen use in Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as being used by Western and Russian Special Forces.

Fully illustrated with commissioned artwork and providing rigorous analysis, this is the first history of how this deceptively simple fighting vehicle has been used and developed in conflicts worldwide.

Clarence "Cap" Cornish was an Indiana pilot whose life spanned all but five years of the Century of Flight. Born in Canada in 1898, Cornish grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He began flying at the age of nineteen, piloting a "Jenny" aircraft during World War I, and continued to fly for the next seventy-eight years. In 1995, at the age of ninety-seven, he was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest actively flying pilot.The mid-1920s to the mid-1950s were Cornish's most active years in aviation. During that period, sod runways gave way to asphalt and concrete; navigation evolved from the iron rail compass to radar; runways that once had been outlined at night with cans of oil topped off with flaming gasoline now shimmered with multicolored electric lights; instead of being crammed next to mailbags in open-air cockpits, passengers sat comfortably in streamlined, pressurized cabins. In the early phase of that era, Cornish performed aerobatics and won air races. He went on to run a full-service flying business, served as chief pilot for the Fort Wayne "News-Sentinel," managed the city's municipal airport, helped monitor and maintain safe skies above the continental United States during World War II, and directed Indiana's first Aeronautics Commission.Dedicating his life to flight and its many ramifications, Cornish helped guide the sensible development of aviation as it grew from infancy to maturity. Through his many personal experiences, the story of flight nationally is played out.

The United States' existing long-range bomber fleet of B-52s, B-1s, and B-2s are at a critical point in their operational life span. With the average age of each airframe being 50, 28, and 20 years old, respectively, military analysts are beginning to question just how long these aircraft can physically last and continue to be credible weapon systems. This book focuses on the sustainment and modernisation of U.S. Air Force bombers, the sustainment of U.S. global leadership and provides a brief assessment of the January 2012 defence strategic guidance.

Hawker Hurricane - No.151 Wing RAF (Royal Air Force) was formed at the end of July 1941 as a two Squadron Hawker Hurricane wing incorporating No.'s 81 and 134 Squadrons, which were formed in the last days of July 1941 at RAF Leconfield. The formation of the Wing followed discussions at the highest level of British government following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Operation Barbarossa had met with enormous success, the Soviet Forces being defeat in pitched battles, falling back all along the front. Britain was under pressure to aid its new ally, the Soviet Union. Although unwilling to provide the asked for ground forces, the British government decided that all possible material aid should be given to the Soviet Union to keep her in the fight. British Prime Minister Churchill was under no illusions; knowing well that Britain alone was never going to be able to provide the huge armies necessary to defeat Germany. The Soviet Union was now a way for the Germans to be fought en-mass. As well as material aid, it was decided to provide a RAF Wing to fight alongside the Red Air Force, while at the same time instructing Soviet pilots on the Hawker Hurricane IIB fighters so that they would form a nucleus of combat pilots from which a large force of Soviet Flown Hurricanes Squadrons would be spawned. This volume covers the formation of No.'s 81 and 134 Squadrons RAF, which constituted No.151 Wing. The Wings combat operations during September and October are covered with every operational sortie listed. Narratives cover combats with enemy aircraft and Wing Combat Reports are reproduced verbatim.

This volume has been prepared using technical and performance information direct from the manufacturers and operators documents. The Panavia Tornado ADV was adopted for the RAF to fight the predicted air battle over the North and Icelandic Seas. This could have involved large formations of Soviet long-range bombers, strike aircraft and maritime patrol aircraft, some of which would have been capable of releasing stand-off cruise missiles at distances of around 300-miles from the UK's shores. To meet this requirement the RAF did not require a small agile fighter, but rather a long-range interceptor, which would be capable of carrying a load of at least eight air-to-air missiles and be capable of detecting the enemy at long-ranges and intercepting them as far from the UK as possible. In the 1970's, a number of off-the shelf options were looked at. A two-crew aircraft better served the demanding mission for the air defence of the UK and it was eventually decided to pursue a European solution by adopting a variant of the Tornado strike aircraft then in development. The resultant Tornado F MK.2 and F Mk.3 was ideally suited to the long-range interception mission it was designed for. However, from the early 1990's, the aircraft was deployed on operations in a counter-air role; a mission for which it is less well suited, but could still accomplish more than competently despite ill informed reports to the contrary. The introduction of new weapons and systems introduced with the capability sustainment program introduced in the late 1990's along with other upgrade programs allowed the aircraft to remain a potent air defence aircraft until its retirement from RAF service in 2011. The book covers the genesis of the Tornado program and the emergence of the ADV fighter variant. The Tornado ADV is described in detail, as is its operational service with the RAF, Saudi Arabia and Italy. A chapter looks at the upgrades to mission systems and weapons including air to surface weapons allowing the Tornado ADV to remain at the cutting edge of air defence technology well into the 21st century. All technical information comes direct from official documents for example the passage on page 17 "The swept tail unit is of cantilever all-metal construction and comprises a single broad chord, swept twin spar vertical tail fin, with rudder mounting with low set all moving horizontal surfaces called tailerons." Has been reviewed by the manufacturer BAE Systems and passed as 100% factually correct.

The purpose of this volume is to provide a detailed log of the operations of the Royal Navy Battle Cruisers and associated units from July 1914 until the end of June 1915. During this time the Battle Cruisers were engaged with elements of the German Fleet on a number of occasions; most notably in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight in August 1914, The Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914 and the Battle of the Dogger Bank in January 1915. In only the Dogger Bank action did the opposing forces Battle Cruisers engage in battle which resulted in a material and strategic defeat for the German High Seas Fleet, albeit at the cost on one British Battle Cruiser severely damaged. In the Heligoland Bight action on 28 August 1914, the British Battle Cruisers provided support to light forces engaging German Light forces. The result was a defeat for the German Fleet, which now concentrated in strengthening the defenses of the area. The Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914 was a pivotal moment for the advocates of the Battle Cruiser concept. It successfully engaged and defeated enemy Armoured Cruisers, and Light Cruisers; the very role for which it had been designed. Intended as an operational history of the employment of the British Battle Cruisers, it is not the intention of this volume to go into the details of the rights or wrongs of the Battle Cruiser concept. It will suffice for the purposes of this volume to state that the designs emerged as an evolution or replacement of the Armoured Cruiser. Not tied to any single role, the new Battle Cruiser was capable of operating as independent units hunting down enemy Cruisers, as in the Falklands battle, or in larger scale operations with the Battle Fleet; scouting ahead with the potential to operate as a fast wing of the Battle Fleet in a fleet action. For this latter role, later in the war the British Battle Cruisers in particular proved unsound in design, tactics or a combination of both. During the first year of the War British Battle Cruisers would be employed in all of the above roles.

Gloster Meteor - The advent of the gas-turbine engine pioneered in the late 1930's by Frank Whittle in Britain and Germany's Dr Hans von Ohain, and its subsequent development into operational jet-propulsion units led to the introduction of a new breed of combat aircraft in the last year of World War II. While Germany developed, built and flew many jet powered aircraft during the war, with several of these subsequently entering operational service, only a handful of allied jet designs actually flew before the war's end. Of these, only the Gloster Meteor twin-jet fighter actually entered service; No.616 Squadron becoming the first jet powered squadron in the world to be declared operational. In many respects, 616Squadron gained this accolade on paper only, as some German Units were operating jet powered aircraft in contested air defence zones prior to the Meteor being declared operational. Flying their first operational sorties against V-1 Flying Bombs on 27 July 1944, the Meteor was at the time being operated on an ad hoc basis, as a direct response to the V-1 attacks against southern Britain. The Squadron did not fully relinquish its Spitfire VII's until 13 August 1944, the date on which the last operational Spitfire mission was flown. The Meteor I was flown operational against the V-1 from late July 1944 until early September that year, following which it entered an intensive period of training through February 1945, by which time the Squadron had been transferred to the 2nd Tactical Air Force for operations on continental Europe supporting the allied armies advancing towards the German hinterland. A handful of aircraft began operating from Belgium from early February 1945, albeit in a non-operational role. The rest of the Squadron, which had been temporarily transferred back to RAF Fighter Command, commenced flying Anti-V-1 operations from early March 1945, until the 19th of that month, after which it reverted back to 2nd Tactical Air Force, flying out to Belgium on the 31st of the Month. The Squadron commenced operational missions as part of 2nd Tactical Air Force on 1 April, flying air defence and reconnaissance/ground attack sorties until the war in Europe ended, flying its last operational sorties on the 4 May 1945. By this time 504 Squadron was on the strength of Fighter Command, with several other squadrons commencing conversion to the Meteor III before World War II ended. Within weeks of the war's end the Meteor IV, which had flown on 15 August, captured with Word Speed Record with an average speed of 606 mph. This volume covers the development of British jet aircraft and the operational service of the aircraft from summer 1944, when the aircraft were employed against V-1 flying bombs until late 1945, including the aircrafts service with 2nd Tactical Air Force supporting the allied armies during the final advance into Germany.

All technical data in this volume has been written from information received from the manufacturers records for this and a previous volume for which thanks go to BAE SYSTEMS, EADS Germany and its forebear MBB, CASA, Eurofighter GmbH, Eurojet and ITP Sener; the later providing details of EJ200 thrust-vectoring developments. Not since the legendary R.J Mitchell's Supermarine Spitfire of the 1930's or the ill fated BAC TSR-2 of the 1960's has a military aircraft been so much in the Spotlight as Eurofighter Typhoon under its many guises over the last three-decades. Designed primarily as a multi-role fighter to replace a number of combat aircraft types in the air forces of Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, Typhoon has metamorphosed into a world-leading combat aircraft capable of meeting any current or near term adversary. While the initial production batches were delivered with an air combat capability the aircraft was cleared as multi-role capable by the RAF in 2008. Full operational capability scheduled for introduction with Tranche 3 will enable Typhoon to perform the full-spectrum of air to air and air to surface mission. Conceived in the 1980's, Eurofighter was designed to Cold War requirements, but emerged into a completely different military political environment that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. The flexibility of the concept allowed the aircraft to absorb the changing military requirements resulting in an aircraft ideally suited to the missions for which it is being procured. The program has been dogged with many problems, both political and technical. Political indecision and the complexities of a four-nation consortium saw the program threatened with reductions and even cancellation. Much blame was laid at Germany's door with suggestions that the program would have benefited from a German withdrawal. However, this is far too simplistic a view. Germany's technological and financial contribution to the program has been considerable. With the fall of the Berlin wall and the subsequent unification of East and West Germany, Germany was handed the burden of financing the re-unification, an expense that none of the other three partner nations had to contend with. The program survival was assured when the Eurofighter Consortium and the four-partner governments in 1998 signed an umbrella contract for 620 aircraft. The Eurofighter Typhoon production phase has been underway for more than a decade, with the first two-seat instrumented production aircraft flying for the first time in April 2002. The first two-seat series production aircraft conducted its first flight in February 2003; with first deliveries to air forces of the four partner nations commencing in the second half of that year, following four-nation type acceptance in June 2003. All four countries had taken delivery of their initial two-seat Tranche 1 Typhoons by the end of 2003, and the first instrumented production single-seat Typhoon conducted its maiden flight on 27 February 2004. By late 2011, 300 Typhoons had been delivered to six different customers. Austria had become the first export customer when it took delivery of the first of 15 aircraft in 2007. Saudi Arabia ordered 72 Typhoons to replace its fleet of Panavia Tornados', with the first two Typhoons being delivered in June 2009. The aircraft is described in detail as are its systems and weapons. The development aircraft flight test program is covered comprehensively as is the follow on Instrumented Production Aircraft program and on toe series production and operational service. Future developments cover the development of the Captor-E Active Electronic Scanned Array, which is planned for future production batches. The developments of the thrust-vector controlled Typhoon is covered including manufactures figures showing the benefits of such a system. The volume is supported by appendices and a detailed chronology of the program.

In April 2009, then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced he intended to significantly restructure the Army's Future Combat System (FCS) program. The FCS was a multiyear, multibillion dollar program that had been underway since 2000 and was at the heart of the Army's transformation efforts. It was to be the Army's major research, development, and acquisition program, consisting of 18 manned and unmanned systems tied together by an extensive communications and information network. This book provides an overview of the development and considerations of the Department of Defense with regard to combat and tactical vehicles, with a focus on the Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) and Marine Personnel Carrier (MPC); the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV); Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles; and other defence acquisitions.

Called one of the most inspiring stories to come out of World War II when first published in 1959, this epic account of Arleigh Burke's legendary Destroyer Squadron 23 is much more than a story of ships and their tactical deployment. It is a story of men in action, some four thousand of them, and how they lived and fought as a magnificent combat team. Ken Jones not only records their heroic deeds but helps explain what prompted those deeds, including the leadership qualities that fired the men into action. In doing so he brings to life the outfit's fighting spirit - that mysterious combination of qualities inspired by great leaders that wins battles - and the man who led them. Commodore Arleigh Burke was the right man at the right place at the right time; his leadership fused the squadron into a superb combat organization. This book offers a vivid account of the fighting in the South Pacific during one of the most crucial periods of the war. In authentic, minute-by-minute detail drawn from once-secret documents, Jones describes the battles of Tassafaronga, Savo Island, Empress Augusta Bay, and Cape St. George. But the focus throughout is on the men as they meet the test of battle with a common bravery as staunch as any in the Navy's annals. No squadron in any navy is said to have won more battle honours in less time than the Fighting Twenty-third.

The French produced some of the most striking and innovatory interwar cruiser designs. A large amount of new information about these ships has become available over the past twenty years in France, but this book is the first to make this accessible to an English-speaking readership. Part I explains the design philosophy behind each of the classes built after 1922, and outlines the characteristics of each type, accompanied by detailed data tables and a comprehensive set of specially-drawn plans based on official documents, as well as carefully-selected photographs. Coverage includes the De Grasse, laid down in August 1939 and completed postwar as an AA cruiser, and also the heavy cruisers of the Saint Louis class intended to follow her, about which little has been published. Part II deals with the historical side, covering not only the eventful careers of these ships, but also explaining the peacetime organisation of the Marine Nationale, the complex politics of this turbulent period and their impact on the navy. Like its highly successful predecessor, French Battleships, this beautifully presented book subtly blends technical and historical analysis to produce what must become the standard reference work.

First book to give an insight into a growing area of interest - stealth warship technology - which is crucial for future developments in warship construction. It demonstrates the importance of materials used in warship construction and how this influences all of a naval platform's design parameters.
Stealth technology is now considered a critical component within warship design, with interest in the concept of stealth increasing around the globe as naval forces adapt to new challenges. Many new developing nations are now implementing their first generation of stealth technology military hardware. This exciting book explores the full extent of threats to warships and thus the transformational change in naval architecture to incorporate these modern stealth technologies.
Discussing the history of stealth technology, with references to well-known aircraft, ships and events in military history, the book also provides readers with a unique opportunity to develop an understanding of the specialist skills required in this naval sector. This is an essential read for anyone interested in stealth design and the issues involved in this evolving technology.

Air Commanders combines short military biographies and operational analyses to reveal how the personalities, attitudes, and life experiences of twelve outstanding U.S. airmen shaped the central air campaigns in American history. From Gen. Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, who began his career in World War I, to the contemporary Gen. T. Michael "Buzz" Moseley, the case studies illuminate the character of these airmen, the challenges they confronted in widely disparate armed conflicts, and the solutions that they crafted and implemented. Their achievements proved decisive not only in the campaigns they led, but also in shaping the U.S. Air Force and the dominant role of airpower in modern warfare.

The Navy's latest 30-year shipbuilding plan has a force of 33 amphibious warfare ships as its objective. The primary purpose of those ships in wartime is to carry Marine Corps units overseas and to support and sustain them as they deploy ashore. In peacetime, amphibious ships perform various missions, such as engaging in routine patrols overseas, reassuring allies, responding to crises, and providing humanitarian relief. This book provides an overview of the size, missions, and use of the Navy's amphibious warfare ships and related expeditionary forces under the Navy's "2012 shipbuilding plan".

The Navy's five Atlantic Fleet nuclear powered aircraft carriers (CVNs) are all homeported at Norfolk, VA. The Department of Defense endorses the Navy's desire to establish a second Atlantic Fleet CVN home port in Mayport, Florida, to be ready by 2019. Transferring a CVN from Norfolk to Mayport would shift the local economic activity associated with homeporting a CVN, which some sources estimate as being worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year. This book explores the issues for Congress as to whether to approve, reject or modify DOD's proposal to transfer a CVN to Mayport. Congress's decision on the issue could affect Navy capabilities and funding requirements, and the local economies of Mayport and Norfolk.

The 'ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, highlighting differences between sister-ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the ships, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites.This volume covers the British 10,000-ton 'Treaty Cruisers', thirteen of which were built to three slightly varying designs between the wars. With three funnels and a high freeboard, they were impressive ships, and all enjoyed very active wartime careers - three were involved in the Bismarck action and another with the sinking of the Scharnhorst.

"The engine of the Panzer is a weapon just as the main-gun." Heinz Guderian During World War II Tiger tank crews had to be trained as quickly and effectively as possible. To assist in this process General Heinz Guderian authorised the publication of the Tigerfibel, the illustrated manual which was issued to Tiger I crews from 1943 onwards. This highly unorthodox publication was full of risque drawings and humorous illustrations and was designed to convey complex battlefield instructions in a simple and memorable manner. This unique primary source has now been translated into English by Emmy Award winning historian Bob Carruthers. It makes for indispensable reading for anyone interested in tank warfare in World War II. The manual contains everything the reader could ever wish to know concerning how the crews were instructed to handle the Tiger I under combat conditions. The Tigerfibel contains the original German publication with a complete English translation and a new overview and introduction. The Tigerfibel contains detailed instructions on aiming, firing, ammunition and close combat. There are extensive sections on maintenance, driving, radio operation and the essentials of commanding a Tiger I in combat. This priceless information is now being made available to a wider English speaking audience as an electronic publication for the first time. Interesting and highly accessible, the Tigerfibel is essential and rewarding reading for all readers interested in the history of this famous tank. This book is part of the 'Hitler's War Machine' series, a new military history range compiled and edited by Emmy Award winning author and historian Bob Carruthers. The series draws on primary sources and contemporary documents to provide a new insight into the true nature of Hitler's Wehrmacht. The series consultant is David Mcwhinnie creator of the award winning PBS series 'Battlefield'.

Named after a Mexican War general William Jenkins Worth, Fort Worth began as a military post in 1849. More than a century and a half later, the defense industry remains Fort Worth's major strength with Lockheed Martin's F-35s and Bell Helicopter's Ospreys flying the skies over the city. Popularly known as ""Cowtown"" for the iconic cattle drives and stockyards that brought the city fame, soldiers, pilots, and military installations have been just as important-and more enduring-in Fort Worth's legacy. Arsenal of Defense: Fort Worth's Military Legacy covers the entire military history of Fort Worth from the 1840s with tiny Bird's Fort to the tremendous impact of the two World Wars on the city and the massive defense plants of the first decade of the twenty-first century.