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A spectacularly illustrated new history and analysis of the
strategic bombing campaign in the Korean War, which saw the last
combat of America's legendary B-29s. Just five years after they
defeated Japan, at the dawn of the jet age, the most advanced
bomber of World War II was already obsolescent. But the legendary
war-winning Superfortresses had one more war to fight, in the
strategic air campaign against North Korea. The bombers' task was
to destroy North Korea's facilities for waging war, from industry
and hydroelectric dams to airfields and bridges. However, it was a
challenging campaign, in which the strategy was not merely military
but political. In this fascinating book, airpower scholar and
former RAF pilot Michael Napier explains how the campaign was
fought, and how the technique of 'bombing to negotiate' that would
become notorious in Vietnam was already being used in Korea. He
analyses in detail the relationship between battlefield progress,
armistice negotiations and the bombing strategy developed over the
complex campaign. In the skies over Korea, the B-29s operated in a
new world dominated by jet fighters and jet age technology, and
tactics were developing rapidly. Packed with original
illustrations, this book includes dramatic air scenes featuring
B-29s, MiG-15s, AD Skyraiders and Skyknight jet nightfighters in
action. It also includes maps, 3D recreations of missions and
explanatory 3D diagrams to bring the conflict to life. This is a
fascinating, dramatic account of the last battles of the
piston-engined aircraft era as the superpowers vied for victory in
the first clash of the Cold War.
Michael Napier details the critical role of air power in the skies
over Afghanistan, from the ten-year occupation by the USSR in the
1980s through to the US and NATO campaign from 2001 to 2021. US and
British forces, strongly supported by air power, invaded
Afghanistan in late 2001 in response to the Al Qaida attacks on
9/11. What began as a small-scale operation of 2,500 troops with
the limited objective of destroying Al Qaida became ever larger,
growing to over 100,000 troops ten years later. This experience
matched that of the Soviets after their invasion in late 1979, when
they saw a massive increase in resistance by Mujahidin. Afghan Air
Wars details how Soviet aircraft including the MiG-21, MiG-23,
Su-17 and Su-25, as well as Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters supported
Soviet offensives in the Panjshir Valley and other regions. Despite
these high-octane operations and overwhelming air superiority,
Soviet forces eventually withdrew. Some 20 years later, US and NATO
air forces were deployed in similar roles. F-15E, F-16, F/A-18,
A-10, Mirage, Harrier and Tornado aircraft all saw action in the
skies over Afghanistan as did the CH-47 Chinook and AH-64 Apache
helicopters. Mike Napier fully details their series of operations
in a hostile environment as well as the advent of high-resolution
targeting pods and Precision Guided Munitions (PGM) which enabled
aircraft to stand off from threat areas and also to deploy their
weapons with deadly accuracy. The conflict also saw the
groundbreaking introduction of Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV) into
routine air operations. Afghan Air Wars is richly illustrated with
over 240 images – both official photos and privately taken,
in-theatre images which have not been previously published. It also
includes first-hand accounts by aircrews involved to create a
unique and comprehensive picture of the part played by air power
over Afghanistan in the last 40 years.
Former RAF Tornado pilot Michael Napier chronicles the
action-packed history of the Harrier GR 7/9, and its missions in
West Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan over a
14-year period of ceaseless operations. The Harrier GR 7/9 was at
the ‘tip of the spear’ for the RAF when it came to employing
weapons against well-equipped standing armies and irregular forces
in the 1990s and during the first decade of the new millennium.
Assigned to the Harrier GR 7/9 Force, the aircraft undertook No Fly
Zone patrols over northern Iraq, supported UN forces in the Balkans
and embarked in Royal Navy carriers to bolster the RAF presence
ashore in the Arabian Gulf. Harrier GR 7s also flew from HMS
Illustrious over Sierra Leone in 2000 and were involved in the
second Gulf War during early 2003 acting as Close Air Support for
Coalition forces. Using first-hand accounts from his extensive
Service contacts, supported by both official and personal
photographs and 30 artwork profiles illustrating the wide range of
colours worn and ordnance employed by the ‘jump jet’, Michael
Napier provides a rare insider’s look at the deployment of
Harrier GR 7/9 up to its withdrawal from RAF service in 2010.
Moreover, Napier also covers the numerous upgrades received by the
aircraft over the years, from more powerful engines to the creation
of the GR 9/9A variants in 2005.
From acclaimed aviation historian Michael Napier, this is a highly
illustrated survey of the air war over Korea. The Korean War holds
a unique place in aviation history. It saw the first large-scale
jet-versus-jet combat and it was the first military action of the
Cold War, fought by both the newly independent United States Air
Force and the recently formed Chinese People's Liberation Army Air
Force. In a meticulously researched volume, former RAF Tornado
pilot Michael Napier unravels the complex narrative of events,
describing the course of operations in the air and the major
campaigns of the land war. He examines in detail the air power of
the major combatants, which included North and South Korea, the UK,
Australia, Canada and South Africa as well as China, the USA and
the USSR. Packed with stunning contemporary images and including
first-hand combat reports, Korean Air War is a groundbreaking
exploration of a much forgotten conflict, which nevertheless
provided lessons about the organization and prosecution of modern
aerial warfare that remain relevant through to the present day.
From acclaimed aviation historian Michael Napier, this is a highly
illustrated survey of the aerial fighting in the flashpoints of the
Cold War. The Cold War years were a period of unprecedented peace
in Europe, yet they also saw a number of localised but nonetheless
very intense wars throughout the wider world in which air power
played a vital role. Flashpoints describes eight of these Cold War
conflicts: the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Congo Crisis of 1960-65,
the Indo-Pakistan Wars of 1965 and 1971, the Arab-Israeli Wars of
1967 and 1973, the Falklands War of 1982 and the Iran-Iraq War of
1980-88. In all of them both sides had a credible air force
equipped with modern types, and air power shaped the final outcome.
Acclaimed aviation historian Michael Napier details the wide range
of aircraft types used and the development of tactics over the
period. The postwar years saw a revolution in aviation technology
and design, particularly in the fields of missile development and
electronic warfare, and these conflicts saw some of the most modern
technology that the NATO and Warsaw Pact forces deployed, alongside
some relatively obscure aircraft types such as the Westland Wyvern
and the Folland Gnat. Highly illustrated, with over 240 images and
maps, Flashpoints is an authoritative account of the most important
air wars of the Cold War.
After the Gulf War of 1990, No Fly Zones (NFZ) were established
over northern and southern Iraq and the Tornado GR 1 force stepped
up to operations over the southern NFZ. The Tornado GR 4 took
responsibility for RAF combat air operations in Afghanistan from
the Harrier force in 2009, and in 2011 was involved in missions
against the Gaddafi regime in Libya. The unique multirole
capabilities of the aircraft enabled it to support ground
operations with the Raptor reconnaissance pod, Brimstone missiles
and Paveway IV laser-guided bombs until withdrawal in 2014. The
Tornado GR 4 was also used for operations over Iraq and Syria
against the ISIL terrorist organisation. Intensive air operations
were flown between 2014 and 2019, when the Tornado GR 4 was finally
withdrawn from RAF Service. This volume, written by former RAF
pilot Michael Napier, provides detailed first-hand accounts of the
missions undertaken by the Tornado crews during the most recent
conflicts over the Middle East and the Balkans.
When the Gulf Crisis of 1990 was triggered by the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait, the RAF responded by sending Tornado F 3 fighters to Saudi
Arabia to help defend the country against further aggression. These
aircraft were followed by the deployment of Tornado GR 1
strike/attack aircraft to Bahrain. Eventually three wings of
Tornado GR 1s were established in Bahrain, Tabuk and Dhahran, as
well as a detachment of Tornado GR 1A reconnaissance aircraft. At
the start of hostilities in January 1991, the Tornado GR 1 wings
carried out night-low-level attacks against Iraqi Main Operating
Bases using the JP233 runway denial weapon. Meanwhile, Combat Air
Patrols from the Tornado F 3 wing ensured the integrity of Saudi
airspace. Once air supremacy had been established, the Tornado GR 1
force moved to medium-level operations, initially by night and
later by day, to attack the Iraqi oil production and storage
infrastructure. The arrival in theatre of a laser designation
capability with Pave Spike/Buccaneer and TIALD/Tornado enabled
precision attacks against the Iraq transport system to cut off the
frontline troops from resupply and reinforcement and then to carry
out a systematic destruction of the airfield facilities. Tornado GR
1A reconnaissance operations played a major role in the location of
Scud missile launchers and in the planning and execution of the
land offensive. Throughout the conflict, the Tornado F 3 wing at
Dhahran carried out defensive counter-air operations to ensure the
safety of the base areas. This volume, publishing 30 years after
the conflict to free Kuwait, provides detailed first-hand accounts
of the missions undertaken by the Tornado crews. It is illustrated
by photographs taken by aircrew involved in the operation and
includes 30 newly commissioned profile artworks and detailed nose
art views of the aircraft ranged against Iraq.
Throughout the second half of the 20th century, international
relations across the globe were dominated by the Cold War. From
1949 until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, US and Soviet
strategic forces were deployed across the Arctic Ocean in North
America and Northern Russia, while the best-equipped armed forces
that the world had ever seen faced each other directly across the
'Iron Curtain' in Europe. In Cold War Skies examines the air power
of the major powers both at a strategic and at a tactical level
throughout the 40 years of the Cold War. In this fascinating book,
acclaimed historian Michael Napier looks at each decade of the war
in turn, examining the deployment of strategic offensive and
defensive forces in North America and Northern Russia as well as
the situation in Europe. He details the strategic forces and
land-based tactical aircraft used by the air forces of the USA,
USSR, NATO, Warsaw Pact countries and the European non-aligned
nations. He also describes the aircraft types in the context of the
units that operated them and the roles in which they were used. The
text is supported by a wide range of first-hand accounts of
operational flying during the Cold War, as well as numerous
high-quality images.
The Vickers Wellington was one of very few aircraft types to have
been in production and frontline service throughout World War II,
and more than 10,000 Wellingtons were built in the period. They
took part in the first RAF bombing mission of the conflict when, on
4 September 1939, 14 examples from Nos 9 and 149 Sqns undertook a
daring daylight attack on the Kiel Canal. However, after suffering
high losses on follow-up raids, Wellingtons were withdrawn from
daytime missions and began to operate at night from May 1940. They
subsequently took part in raids against the Italian port city of
Genoa in July 1940, and against Berlin the following month,
followed by key missions in the 'Battle of the Barges' in September
and October, as the RAF targeted the Germany's invasion fleet being
assembled in French Channel ports. When RAF's strike force expanded
the next year following the introduction of the improved Wellington
II, the 21 squadrons equipped with the Vickers aircraft, which
included Polish-, Canadian- and Australian-manned units, formed the
backbone of the Bomber Command night bombing force. Over the next
two years Wellingtons participated in all the major operations by
Bomber Command, including the daylight raid against German
battleships in Brest harbour in July 1942 and the first three
'Thousand Bomber' raids in the summer of 1942. This illustrated
study explores the design, development, and deployment of the
Vickers-Wellington type, charting its role in World War II from its
earliest missions to its use in training after its withdrawal from
frontline bomber missions in 1943. The text is supported by
stunning full-colour artwork.
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