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The Wild Atlantic Way is a driving route along Ireland's Atlantic
seaboard, covering over 2,350km of coastline and showcasing the
region's breathtaking landscapes. This guide adapts the route for
cyclists - and throws in a couple of other highlights (such as the
Aran Islands and Killarney) for good measure. Since relatively few
people are likely to have seven weeks to spare for a full Wild
Atlantic Way tour, the book presents six self-contained cycle
tours, each offering 7-10 days of riding. For the full Wild
Atlantic Way experience, these distinct routes can be linked
together into a 44-stage trip from Derry/Londonderry to Cork. Each
route includes detailed advice on accommodation and facilities,
plus optional detours and shortcuts and points of interest. The
routes themselves are presented as 'route cards': ideal for use
with a cycle computer, these pages provide 'at a glance'
information for when you're on the road, covering navigation,
facilities and local highlights. The guide covers all the
practicalities - including transport, equipment and general tips on
cycling in Ireland.
Officially established on 22 April 1931, around a core of 5 pilots
and 32 aircraft mechanics, the Royal Iraqi Air Force was the first
military flying service in any Arab country. Coming into being with
the task of supporting the Iraqi armed forces and the British
against revolts by local tribes, it saw extensive combat and
gradually grew into a potent force. During the Anglo-Iraqi War of
1941, it became involved in its first conventional campaign in
support of an anti-British coup but was destroyed as a fighting
force. It was still recovering when deployed in combat again, this
time against Israel in the course of the Palestine War of
1948-1949. During the relatively quiet decade of the 1950s, the air
force experienced a rapid growth, further intensified once the
monarchy was toppled during the 14 Tammuz Revolution in 1958, and
once again, after two additional coups in 1963. During all of these
affairs, a dozen additional coup attempts in the 1960s, and then
during the long and bitter war against a Kurdish insurgency in the
north, and the next clash with Israel in 1967, the Iraqi Air Force
continued playing a dominant role in the fate of the country. The
situation changed only little following the coup of 1968 that
brought the Ba'ath Party to power. What did instrument a major
change was the air force's involvement in the October 1973
Arab-Israeli War, and then the showdown with the Iranian-supported
Kurdish insurgency in northern Iraq in 1974-1975. These two affairs
taught the Iraqis that numbers alone did not make an air force.
Correspondingly, during the second half of the 1970s, Baghdad
embarked on a project based on full technology transfer from
France, which was intended to result in preparing the IrAF for the
21st century. This process hardly began when the new ruler in
Baghdad, Saddam Hussein at-Tikriti, led his country into an
invasion of neighbouring Iran, embroiling it in a ruinous,
eight-year-long war. Amazingly enough, for the first few years of
that conflict, the IrAF still continued planning and growing as if
there was no conflict to fight, although frequently suffering heavy
losses while - due to the micromanagement from the government -
de-facto fighting with one hand tied to its backs. It was only the
experience of facing sustained and massive Iranian offensives of
the 1984-1986 period that prompted Baghdad into unleashing the air
force into an all-out campaign against the Iranian economy that
effected a turn-around in the war. Almost unexpectedly, the IrAF
emerged from the eight years of Iran stronger, better equipped and
better trained, and more experienced than ever before. However,
Saddam Hussein took care to remove all of its top commanders, and
replace them with his favourites, thus de-facto castrating the most
powerful branch of the Iraqi armed forces shortly before embarking
upon his ultimate adventure: the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The
resulting Second Persian Gulf War of 1991 left the IrAF in tatters:
mauled by sustained air strikes on its air bases, and cut off from
its former sources of equipment and training, it was never to
recover again, and rather vegetated for the last years of
existence, pending its ultimate destruction during the US-led
invasion of 2003. Although virtually 'born in battle', collecting
precious combat experience and playing an important role in so many
internal and external conflicts, the Iraqi Air Force remains one of
the least known and most misinterpreted military services in the
Middle East. Richly illustrated, Wings over Iraq provides a
uniquely compact yet comprehensive guide to its operational
history, its crucial officers and aircraft, and its major
operations.
Formerly known as the 'Switzerland of the Middle East', an island
of economic stability and social progress, Lebanon was shattered by
a civil war that raged from 1975 until 1990. Pitting the central
government against different factions and alliances of Christians,
Sunni and Shi'a Moslems, leftists, and Syrian armed forces, this
multifaceted conflict experienced a major escalation when Israel
launched an invasion with the aim of destroying the Palestine
Liberation Organisation (PLO), in 1982. Also known as the First
Lebanon War, or Operation Peace for Galilee, the Israeli enterprise
was run in cooperation with Christian allies and the
self-proclaimed Free Lebanon State. Except for attacking the PLO
and surrounding its leadership in West Beirut, it provoked a major
showdown with Syrian armed forces deployed inside Lebanon, and
resulted in a series of bitter battles. Ever since, fighting on the
ground and in the sky of the Beka'a Valley is a synonym for
modern-day conventional air-land battle in the age of
high-technology warfare. Focusing on military-related developments,
and rich in exclusive details and illustrations, 'Lebanese Civil
War: Israeli Invasion, 1982' is dissecting military forces, their
equipment, intention and capabilities, and their combat operations.
Equipped with well-balanced air wings, huge aircraft carriers have
formed the backbone of the United States Navy's doctrine and
strategy since the Second World War. Packing an enormous punch,
their purpose is to exercise control over enormous portions of
airspace - in the offence or defence. From the mid-1970s until the
mid-2000s, the spear tip of the USN air wings was the famous
Grumman F-14 Tomcat - widely considered one of the finest air
superiority systems in the world. Originally designed as a fast,
manoeuvrable and well-armed fighter, the Tomcat entered service as
the ultimate long-range fleet defender and became the biggest, most
complex and most expensive naval aircraft of its time. Including a
unique and exceptional combination of flight characteristics,
detection systems and weapons, it earned itself the status of a
legend by the mid-1980s. The F-14 Tomcats of the US Navy achieved
their first aerial victories during freedom of navigation exercises
off Libya in 1981. However, the period during which they saw most
combat followed several years later, during Operations Earnest Will
and then Desert Storm, from 1987 until 1991. To date, very little
has been published about the operations in question. Indeed, the
widespread belief is that USN F-14s saw next to no air combat
against Iran, and even less so during Operation Desert Storm in
1991. As so often, the reality is entirely different: Tomcats
engaged dozens of opponents, often on the verge of the engagement
envelope of their powerful AWG-9 radars and AIM-54 Phoenix
long-range air-to-air missiles, and sometimes at such close ranges
that their pilots selected 'guns'. Weather- and
communications-related problems, but also the incredible discipline
of their crews prevented them from scoring up to a dozen aerial
victories: however, it is perfectly possible that they scored at
least one, perhaps more previously entirely unknown aerial
victories - and also lost one of their own to an enemy fighter.
Richly illustrated by over 100 photographs and authentic colour
profiles, 'Tomcats of the Storm' is an exclusive source of
reference about some of least-well known air combats fought by US
Navy's fighter crews in recent history.
The former colony of Spanish Sahara saw frequent outbursts of
tribal and ethnic rebellions while ruled by the colonial
authorities in the late 19th and through the early 20th Century.
Its vastness and distances essentially dictated the application of
air power in response. While most of these events attracted next to
no attention in English-language media, the large-scale operations
of the Spanish colonial authorities of the late 1950s became
notable at least for the final combat deployment of the famous
Messerschmitt Bf.109. Following the Spanish withdrawal from Spanish
Sahara in 1975, a major war erupted as Sahrawi nationalists -
organized by the POLISARIO front - engaged in guerrilla warfare
against Moroccan armed forces deployed to secure the northern part
of the country, and Mauritanian forces deployed in the south.
Characteristically for this period, POLISARIO's insurgency was
often misinterpreted in the West as 'Soviet-influenced', although
the rebels never adapted any related frameworks for their
operations and tactics, such as those of Mao Zedong. On the
contrary, while Algeria at least tolerated their bases on its soil,
it was Libya that provided most of the support for the insurgency,
eventually enabling it to defeat the Mauritanian military, slightly
over a year later. Combined with POLISARIO's raids deep into
Mauritania this prompted France to launch a limited military
intervention in support. While tactically successful, this proved
insufficient: Mauritania withdrew in 1979 after signing a peace
treaty. Morocco continued fighting a series of bitter campaigns
through 1979 and 1980, until rising costs and casualties prompted
its government into developing an entirely new strategy.
Construction of extensive earthen fortifications eventually slowed
the war down to one of low intensity, only sporadically interrupted
by insurgent attempts to achieve at least local successes. With
both sides realizing that no solution through an armed conflict was
possible, a cease-fire agreement was signed in 1991. However, this
conflict still remains unresolved: it merely shifted to civilian
resistance. Warfare in Western Sahara has in many ways become
exemplary for modern-day counter-insurgency efforts in Africa and
elsewhere. This conflict has been falsely declared as a part of
some larger, external conflict - the Cold War; in regards of the
concept of an insurgency applying motorized forces to deliver often
spectacular 'hit-and-run' attacks; and in regards of a conventional
military reacting with a combination of earth berms and air power.
Illustrated by over 100 photograph as, a dozen maps and 18 colour
profiles, Showdown in Western Sahara offers a fascinating study of
the military aspects of this conflict, warfare strategies, tactics
and experiences with different weapons systems.
Following the Civil War of 1994, Yemen experienced few years of
relative peace. This was rudely interrupted in 2004, when the
government opened the first of six campaigns against the movement
colloquially known as 'Houthis'. The Yemeni Air Force - partially
re-equipped over the previous years - saw intensive involvement in
this conflict, but proved insufficient. In late 2009 and through
2010, the war spread into Saudi Arabia, which reacted with its
first military intervention in the country. A host of
long-simmering internal conflicts culminated in the second
Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, launched in March 2015.
Although run along widely accepted Western doctrine of aerial
warfare, and highly effective, the campaign in question experienced
a number of massive problems - primarily related to unexpected
developments and extremely complex relations between multiple
parties in Yemen. That the air forces of the Saudi-led alliance
involved in the ongoing campaign in Yemen are operating some of
most modern combat aircraft and weaponry manufactured in the West
is no secret. But, exactly how, why, when, and where are they
deploying weapons systems in question and for what purpose remains
entirely unknown in the public. Thanks to approach to first-hand
sources, this volume is providing answers to precisely these
questions and thus providing an exclusive insight into the conduct
of operations by such modern aircraft types like F-15S, F-16E/F,
EF-2000 Typhoon, and Mirage 2000. Containing over 140 photographs,
colour profiles, maps and extensive tables, Hot Skies over Yemen is
a richly illustrated and unique point of reference about one
segment of modern aerial warfare that remains entirely unknown
until today.
Great Lakes Holocaust' is the first in two volumes covering
military operations in Zaire - as the Congo was named from 1971
until 1997 - and the Democratic Republic of Congo at the turn of
the 21st century. This volume explores the events of the 1980s and
1990s in Rwanda and Uganda, which eventually spilled over the
borders into Zaire, resulting in one of the worst tragedies ever to
befall an African region. The narrative traces the ascent of
crucial Rwandan, Congolese and Ugandan military and political
figures, and their connections within influential business and
political circles in and outside Africa. It examines the build-up
of the Zairian military under the government of Dictator Mobutu
Sese Seko in the 1960s and 1970s, and provides an in-depth study
into reasons for its near-collapse in the early 1990s. The military
build-up of Rwanda and Uganda is discussed in detail as is their
planning for operations inside Zaire, and the global logistic tail
that provided the Rwandan military, particularly, but also most of
its opponents, with a capability of not only waging war beyond
their borders, but - in the case of Rwanda - of invading and
practically conquering a country the size of Western Europe or the
USA east of the Mississippi. The book further traces the covert
Rwandan military actions inside Zaire, initially run under the
guise of an insurgency by one of Zaire's ethnic minorities; how
ever-deepening Rwandan operations inside Zaire were practically
dictated by concentrations of Hutu refugees; and how the insurgency
- led by Laurent-Desire Kabila who was installed by key Rwandan and
Ugandan military and political figures - developed into an
organization that sought autonomy from the military and political
dictates of Rwanda, in turn delivering a direct reason for the
Second Congo War which was fought from 1998-2003.
War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 4, continues the coverage of
the operational history of the Angolan Air Force and Air Defence
Force (FAPA/DAA) as told by Angolan and Cuban sources, in the
period 1985-1988. Many accounts of this conflict - better known in
the West as the 'Border War' or the 'Bush War', as named by its
South African participants - consider the operations of the
FAPA/DAA barely worth commentary. At most, they mention a few air
combats involving Mirage F.1 interceptors of the South African Air
Force (SAAF) in 1987 and 1988, and perhaps a little about the
activity of the FAPA/DAA's MiG-23s. However, a closer study of
Angolan and Cuban sources reveals an entirely different image of
the air war over Angola in the 1980s: indeed, it reveals the extent
to which the flow of the entire war was dictated by the
availability - or the lack - of air power. These issues strongly
influenced the planning and conduct of operations by the commanders
of the Angolan and Cuban forces. Based on extensive research with
the help of Angolan and Cuban sources, War of Intervention in
Angola, Volume 4, traces the Angolan and Cuban application of air
power between 1985-1988 - during which it came of age - and the
capabilities, intentions, and the combat operations of the air
forces. The volume is illustrated with 100 rarely seen photographs,
half a dozen maps and 15 colour profiles, and provides a unique
source of reference on this subject.
When the BP oil spill devastates the Gulf coast, those who made a living by shrimping find themselves in dire straits. For the oddballs and lowlifes who inhabit the sleepy, working class bayou town of Jeannette, these desperate circumstances serve as the catalyst that pushes them to enact whatever risky schemes they can dream up to reverse their fortunes. At the center of it all is Gus Lindquist, a pill-addicted, one armed treasure hunter obsessed with finding the lost treasure of pirate Jean Lafitte. His quest brings him into contact with a wide array of memorable characters, ranging from a couple of small time criminal potheads prone to hysterical banter, to the smooth-talking Oil company middleman out to bamboozle his own mother, to some drug smuggling psychopath twins, to a young man estranged from his father since his mother died in Hurricane Katrina. As the story progresses, these characters find themselves on a collision course with each other, and as the tension and action ramp up, it becomes clear that not all of them will survive these events.
Ethiopia, a country of ancient origins in eastern Africa, remains a
military powerhouse of that continent until our days. Nowadays
involved in the war in neighbouring Somalia, Ethiopia was also
involved in half a dozen of other armed conflicts over the last 60
years. Crucial between these was the Eritrean War of Independence.
Fought 1961-1991, this was one of biggest armed conflicts on the
African continent, especially if measured by numbers of involved
combatants. It included a wide spectrum of operations, from
'classic' counter-insurgency (COIN) to conventional warfare in
mountains - with the latter being one of the most complex and most
demanding undertakings possible to conduct by a military force.
Campaigns run during the Eritrean War of Independence often
included large formations of relatively well-equipped forces, led
by well-trained commanders, along well-thought-out plans, based on
home-grown doctrine. The air power played a crucial - although not
necessarily decisive - role in many of battles. Nevertheless, most
of details about this conflict remain unknown in the wider public.
Similarly, relatively few Western observers are aware of relations
between the Eritrean liberation movements, and various dissident
and insurgent movements inside Ethiopia - although the synergy of
these eventually led the downfall of the so-called Derg government,
in 1991. While the first volume in this mini-series spanned the
history of wars between Ethiopia and Eritrea between 1961 and 1988,
the second covers the period since. Correspondingly, it is
providing coverage of military operations that led to the fall of
the Derg government in Ethiopia of 1991, the period of Eritrean
military build-up and a complete re-organization of the Ethiopian
military in the 1990s, and concludes with the first detailed
account of the so-called Badme War, fought between Ethiopia and
Eritrea in period 1998-2001. It is illustrated by many contemporary
photographs, maps and colour profiles.
Originally envisaged as a privately funded project for a possible
future NATO-fighter, the Dassault Mirage F.1 evolved into one of
the most aesthetically attractive and commercially most successful
combat aircraft of the 1970s and 1980s. Developed into more than a
dozen of different variants and sub-variants - each of them
custom-tailored to requirements of air forces that flew it - it
also became a type that saw intensive combat service in numerous
wars on no less than three different continents. Iraq became the
biggest export customer for Mirage F.1. One way or the other, the
Iraqi Air Force significantly contributed - and financed - the
further development of this type, but also influenced research and
development of a number of further systems that followed in its
wake - most of which eventually found their way into operational
service in France. While the Mirage F.1 has attracted at least some
coverage in English language publications, its acquisition and
combat deployment by Iraq still remains a topic with not a few
controversies. The purpose of this volume is to redress the balance
and provide an in-depth insight into the acquisition process,
development and equipment of custom-tailored variants made for
Iraq, training of Iraqi personnel on the type, and its combat
deployment during wars against Iran, 1980-1988, and against the
US-led, so-called Gulf Coalition, in 1991 and afterwards.
Originally envisaged and acquired as a `pure' interceptor, before
long the Mirage F.1 in Iraqi service proved a highly capable
multi-role platform aircraft, and was widely deployed not only for
ground attack but also anti-shipping purposes, as an aerial tanker,
and for delivering long-range pin-point attacks. Illustrated with
over 120 photographs and many colour profiles, this book provides a
unique, single point of reference on camouflage, markings, and
armament configurations of Mirage F.1s in Iraqi service.
The Iran-Iraq War was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 20th
Century and accidentally created the current nightmare of Islamic
fundamentalist terrorism. There have been many books on the
conflict but this is the first detailed military history using
materials from both sides, as well as materials obtained from US
Intelligence circles and British Governmental archives. It provides
a unique insight into a war which began through miscalculation and
rapidly escalated into the longest conventional conflict in the
post-Second World War era. The third volume covers the last two
years of the war on the Southern front, where Iranians made their
last supreme effort to break through Iraqi lines during the winter
of 1986-1987. Iraqi defences just about held. For a year, there was
an ominous silence, but then Iraq launched a series of devastating
blows that recovered the Faw Peninsula, pulverised weakly-occupied
Iranian positions, and drove the frontlines back to the
international border. Iran was left with no option but to sue for
peace.
The Iran-Iraq War was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the 20th
Century and accidentally created the current nightmare of Islamic
fundamentalist terrorism. There have been many books on the
conflict but this is the first detailed military history using
materials from both sides, as well as materials obtained from US
Intelligence circles and British Governmental archives. It provides
a unique insight into a war which began through miscalculation and
rapidly escalated into the longest conventional conflict in the
post-Second World War era. Part 4 in this mini-series coversthe
warfare between Iran and Iraq on the Central and Northern Fronts.
Difficult terrain made it problematic for either side to assemble
overwhelming superiority. Following initial Iraqi attacks that
seized some territory, the Iranians began gradually nibbling back
until achieving some success in the centre, in 1982. Subsequently,
the Central Front saw only minor conventional battles until Iraq
launched several major blows in 1988. In the north, fighting
primarily revolved around several Kurdish insurgencies in northern
Iraq, and culminated in the horror of the Halabcheh gas attack. The
final campaign of the war saw Iraq-supported Iranian emigres
launching a spectacular, but also a swiftly-crushed, invasion of
their homeland.
Officially established on 22 April 1931, around a core of 5 pilots
and 32 aircraft mechanics, the Royal Iraqi Air Force was the first
military flying service in any Arab country. Coming into being with
the task of supporting the Iraqi armed forces and the British
against revolts by local tribes, it saw extensive combat and
gradually grew into a potent force. During the Anglo-Iraqi War of
1941, it became involved in its first conventional campaign in
support of an anti-British coup but was destroyed as a fighting
force. It was still recovering when deployed in combat again, this
time against Israel in the course of the Palestine War of
1948-1949. During the 1950s, the Royal Iraqi Force experienced a
phase of unprecedented growth: after acquiring several batches of
Hawker Fury piston-engined fighter-bombers, Bristol Freighter
transports and its first helicopters, it entered the jet-age
through the acquisition of de Havilland Vampires and Venoms, and
Hawker Hunters in quick succession. The 14 Tammuz Revolution of
1958 toppled the British-imposed monarchy and cut the ties to
London. For the next five years, the Iraqi Air Force (IrAF)
maintained close links to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
and became the first Arab air force to operate types like the
MiG-19 and MiG-21, and also the first equipped with Tupolev Tu-16
medium jet bombers. Through the 1960s, the IrAF played a dominant
role in Iraq's inner politics, determining the fate of the nation
to an unprecedented degree. It not only became involved in combat
against Kurdish insurgents in the north of the country: its
officers staged multiple coups d'etat in 1963, 1965 and 1966,
served as Ministers of Defence and Prime Ministers of the Iraqi
government, became involved in the June 1967 War with Israel, and
were instrumental in the putsch of 1968 that brought the Ba'ath
Party to power. Although subjected to the tight control of the
Ba'ath and the Army, the IrAF continued growing through the 1970s
and reached its zenith during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988, when
it flew some of the most advanced combat aircraft available
world-wide, became the air force with most combat- and flying
experience on the MiG-25 and the first true multi-role combat
aircraft ever - the Mirage F.1 - and played the crucial role in
forcing Tehran to accept a cease-fire. In 1990, the IrAF took part
in the invasion of Kuwait. Decimated during the 1991 Gulf War
against the US-led coalition, it became involved in the suppression
of the uprisings in northern and southern Iraq, and subsequently
continued fighting a decade-long no-fly zone maintained by the USA
and Great Britain. Although virtually 'born in battle', collecting
precious combat experience and playing an important role in so many
internal and external conflicts, the Iraqi Air Force remains one of
the least known and most misinterpreted military services in the
Middle East. Richly illustrated, 'Wings over Iraq' provides a
uniquely compact yet comprehensive guide to its operational
history, its crucial officers and aircraft, and its major
operations.
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