When the UN called for the end of the British mandate and the partition of Palestine into two independent states, the RAF found itself under attack from both sides. Tracing the development of hostilities in the Middle East, this book covers the period from the establishment of the first proper Israeli Air Force in 1948 to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Israel's War of Independence against its Arab neighbours, the inevitable 'round two', the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Six Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur wars of 1973 and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 are all detailed in this...

In August 1990 Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded and occupied the small Arab state of Kuwait. This book analyses the ensuing Gulf War (16 January - 28 February 1991) - a war fought to expel Iraq and restore Kuwaiti independence if not, as one British MP tartly observed, to defend democracy. The allies under General Schwarzkopf launched five weeks of air attacks, deploying 1,800 technologically highly advanced aircraft from the US, British, French and Saudi air forces. Many of these machines, including the British Tornadoes and US F-117A Stealth fighters, had never before engaged in...

Osprey's study of the RAF's most successful heavy bomber of World War II (1939-1945). The Avro Lancaster formed the backbone of Bomber Command during the large-scale night bombing campaign against occupied Europe. In this, the first of two volumes on the British bomber icon of World War 2, noted English aviation historian Jon Lake recounts the early daylight raids, the first 'thousand bomber' raids on Germany and the epic 'Dambusters' mission of 16/17 May 1943 by No 617 Sqn, as well as myriad other sorties to numerous German targets in 1942-43. This volume contains more than 100 photographs,...

The RAF's most successful heavy bomber of World War II (1939-1945), the Avro Lancaster formed the backbone of Bomber Command during the large-scale night bombing campaign against occupied Europe. Produced in massive numbers (over 7300 up to VE-Day), the first examples entered squadron service on Christmas Eve 1941, and tasted combat the following March. The second of two volumes on the British bomber icon of World War II, this book details Bomber Command's massive nocturnal bombing campaign, its support for the D-Day landings, Tallboy raids against the U-boat pens in France and the battleship...

The B-17 saw combat in the Pacific from the moment a formation of these bombers arrived at Pearl Harbor during the midst of the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack. By the end of World War II (1939-1945), SB-17 rescue craft were saving combat crews in the waters off Japan. This book reveals why, to the public, the Flying Fortress was better known than the Spitfire, the Boeing 747, or Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis. The name recognition enjoyed by the B-17 was that company's reason for creating B-17 Steak Sauce and Osprey's reason to round out the saga of this great wartime aircraft.

Osprey's study of the B-17 Flying Fortress Units of World War II (1939-1945). Although the Fifteenth Air Force was dismissed as 'minor leaguers' by the Eighth Air Force, strategic bombers from this outfit had done a 'major league' job on Axis targets in southern Europe following its formation in Italy in November 1943. And the heavy bombers employed by the Fifteenth were of course the venerable B-17 and B-24. At its peak strength, the Fifteenth's B-17 force comprised six groups of four squadrons each, all controlled by the 5th Bomb Wing. Having been a part of the Fifteenth Air Force in 1944,...

Flown exclusively by the US Marines, the PBJ was one of those rare examples of an air force type being procured by the navy due to its ability to do exactly the job that was required of it. Bought as a land-based patrol bomber for operations in the Atlantic and Pacific during World War II (1939-1945), the PBJ (Patrol, Bomber, North American) was kitted out to hunt down submarines as well as surface vessels. Identical to its air force counterpart, except for its ability to lay mines, deploy depth charges and launch torpedoes, some 706 PBJs were delivered to the Marine Corps from 1943-45. This...

Osprey's study of AH-1 helicopters and their participation in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). Bell's AH-1 Cobra was the first dedicated helicopter gunship to reach frontline service anywhere in the world. Developed as a private venture by the manufacturer, and based on the mechanics of the ubiquitous UH-1 Huey, the Cobra proved a huge success once introduced into combat with the US Army in 1966. Built as a key weapon in the Advanced Aerial Fire Support System concept of 1965, the AH-1 was one of the few aircraft to reach the combat zone after actual combat experience went into its design. The...

Designed to form the backbone of Strategic Air Command's nuclear deterrent, the B-52 force was brought to higher states of readiness whenever crisis threatened the USA, most notably when Kennedy and Khruschev went eyeball-to-eyeball over Cuba. Soon afterwards, B-52s formed the backbone of the USAF's bombing campaign in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. This book follows the story of the B-52 from its genesis to its first combat missions in June 1965 and through to the briefly sustained but bloodily fought Linebacker II offensive in late 1972. Even after the withdrawal of US forces in 1973, B-52s...

This book is the story of a majestic bomber of the propeller era flying perilous combat missions against a sleek, nimble warplane of the jet age, the Soviet MiG-15. A very heavy bomber and a sky giant during World War II, at that time the B-29 was the most advanced combat aircraft in the world. By the time North Korea attacked its southern neighbour in 1950, thus starting the Korean War (1950-1953) the B-29 had been reclassified a medium bomber. Many of its crew members had fought their war and settled down to raise families and begin careers only to be recalled to fight another war on a...