This is the story of nine diverse air forces, their aircraft, and air warfare over Afghanistan in the period between the Soviet withdrawal of 1989, and the US-led Western intervention in 2001. Afghanistan is widely considered one of the World's most primitive and hostile environments. The terrain is rugged and the climate harsh; in many parts of the country the local society developed over millennia in total isolation from the outside world; other areas experienced invasions by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the British Empire, and felt strong influence from Czarist Russia and then the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

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Pages: 72

Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm

Publication Date: 30-09-2020

he air force of Tito's Yugoslavia has had many different peculiarities - from a unique Cold War position of having operated a mix of US, Soviet, and indigenous aircraft and equipment, to the changeable strategies in case of war. One such feature was an entire underground air base constructed inside a hill near the town of Bihac, in western Bosnia. 'The Object' was the core, the heart, of this air base: it housed four MiG-21 squadrons for nearly 25 years, until the civil war tore Yugoslavia apart.

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Pages: 72

Dimensions: 210 x 291 mm

Publication Date: 15-10-2020

The Lockheed U-2 is probably the best known spy-aircraft ever, famous for the exploits of its pilots over or near hostile territories. Indeed, the bold and provocative operations flown by the CIA-operated Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have epitomized the rivalry between the United States of America and the Soviet Union during the early to middle Cold War period. Much has been published about some of the overflights in question - especially the one on 1 May 1960, that ended with the downing of the US pilot Garry Powers. However, exactly how did the Soviets, and then the Chinese armed forces, react to such operations, and what kind of experiences did they go through while not only trying to detect and track, but also intercept and shoot down one of the high-flying spy-aircraft, is the part of this story that remains largely unknown. The Hunt for the U-2 aims to answer the related question through a cross-examination of documentation and participant accounts from all of the involved parties. Richly illustrated with 100 photographs and authentic, full color profiles of the aircraft involved - whether those configured for the glamorous role of strategic reconnaissance or those designed to intercept and destroy them - and maps, and based on extensive cross-examination of documentation and participant accounts from all the involved parties, The Hunt for the U-2 is a succinct operational history of how the confrontations between that reconnaissance aircraft and those trying to catch it played out and, last but not least, what kind of impact these operations had in not so distant history.

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Pages: 72

Dimensions: 210 x 291 mm

The Mikoyan i Gurevich MiG-21 has been built in greater numbers than any other combat aircraft since 1945. It also saw service with more air forces than any other type manufactured over the last 70 years. Locally designated the 'L' (for Lovac or fighter), for more than half a century over 260 MiG-21s in 12 different versions and sub-variants formed the backbone of the Yugoslav Air Force and Air Defense Force (JRV i PVO) and later the Serbian Air Force (RV i PVO). Entering service at the peak of the Cold War, the MiG-21 quickly replaced the US-supplied North American F-86E and F-86D Sabres in the Yugoslav inventory. The first version, MiG-21F-13, was followed by the MiG-21PFM in 1967, and MiG-21M/MF in 1970. Serving with the 204th Fighter Regiment, the task of these fighters was the air defense of Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia.

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Pages: 80

Dimensions: 210 x 291 mm

Based on diverse interpretations of the Real Ceduls (Royal Proclamations) by the Spanish monarchs of earlier centuries, the almost 200-year-old border dispute between Ecuador and Peru became one of the longest-running international armed conflicts in the Western hemisphere. Numerous attempts at a negotiated definition of the borders failed, and the two countries fought at least three wars in the 20th Century. Drawing upon extensive research in the official archives of the Fuerza Aérea del Peru (FAP), and documentation from multiple private sources in Ecuador and Peru, The Air Wars between Ecuador and Peru, Volume 2 reconstructs the history of the air forces of both nations, and the little-known story of their brief, yet bitter clashes of early 1981. Thanks to the availability of precise details from both parties to the conflict, the volume avoids the usual, biased and one-sided coverage of the conflict, while providing intricate details of the military build-up, capabilities and intentions of both air forces involved, their training, planning, and the conduct of combat operations. Illustrated by more than 100 exclusive photographs, half a dozen maps and 15 authentic color profiles, Air Wars between Ecuador and Peru, Volume 2 provides the first authoritative account of the air warfare between Ecuador and Peru in early 1981.

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Pages: 72

Dimensions: 210 x 291 mm

Publication Date: 13-05-2020

Trinidad has the distinction of contributing the highest number of recruits per capita to the cause of notorious 'Islamic State'. The case of Trinidad and Tobago (usually abbreviated 'Trinidad') makes for an interesting study as on the face of it, a well-integrated Muslim population, a strong welfare state and an absence of political persecution on any religious or racial basis should not provide fertile recruiting ground for Jihadist ideology. However, the converse is most certainly the case as not only is attraction to such extremist causes growing but the numbers of Trinidadian nationals willing to fight for IS is also increasing. What is happening in Trinidad is symptomatic of a broader problem as Jihadi groups have widened their reach where apparently unconnected groups can now ally with the ideology and resource bases of better known groups without formally being part of them. The flirtation with Islamist ideology on Trinidad dates back many years and through a combination of incompetence, political naiveté and unfortunate compromises. Indeed, the country faced the only Islamist coup in the entire Latin America - Caribbean region and the hemisphere.

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Pages: 68

Dimensions: 210 x 291 mm

Publication Date: 17-09-2020

The Chaco War was the first modern conflict in South America. Over time, it became the topic of many volumes published in both Bolivia and Paraguay - first by veterans, such as the commanders-in-chief, and the commanders of army corps', regiments or battalions, and by other ranks, in the form of personal memoirs or wider histories, and using a wide variety of sources. Subsequently, the conflict attracted attention of many foreign writers, foremost from the United States of America and Europe, who researched it with great interest. Hundreds of related articles have also been published. Nevertheless, The Chaco War, 1932-1935 is the first ever concise history of this conflict, providing the reader with the full background to this conflict, the military build-up of the Bolivian and Paraguayan armed forces, a blow-by-blow account of Bolivian penetration of this territory since the early 20th Century, precise details on troops mobilized for the war by both sides, all of the battles fought between the belligerents, and their casualties.

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Pages: 72

Dimensions: 210 x 291 mm

Publication Date: 30-09-2020

Officially established on 22 April 1931, around a core of five pilots and 32 aircraft mechanics, the Royal Iraqi Air Force was the first official native military flying service of any Arab country. Founded to support 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 Air Force experienced a phase of unprecedented growth through the acquisition of several batches of modern British-built aircraft. 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 USSR and became the first Arab air force to operate types like the MiG-19 and MiG-21, and was the first equipped with Tupolev Tu-16 medium jet bombers. Through the 1960s, the IrAF played a dominant role in internal Iraqi politics, determining the fate of the nation to an unprecedented degree, 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. While virtually 'born in battle', the Iraqi Air Force remains one of the least known and most misinterpreted military services in the Middle East. Richly illustrated, Volume 1 of Wings of Iraq provides a uniquely compact yet comprehensive guide to its operational history, its crucial officers and aircraft, and its major operations from 1931 to 1970.

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Pages: 96

Dimensions: 210 x 291 mm

Publication Date: 14-10-2020

At a time when multiple wars are raging across much of the Middle East, it is almost forgotten that it was Abu al-Qasim Abbas ibn Firnas ibn Wirdas at-Takurni - an Andalusian inventor, physician and engineer - who was the first person to undertake experiments in flying with any degree of success. That was back in the 9th Century A.D. Nigh on a thousand years later the Arab World's critical strategic location made it almost inevitable that these regions would be drawn into the imperial rivalries of the leading European powers, while the Ottoman Empire struggled to maintain its existing position in the area. This in turn meant that the first bombs to be dropped by military aircraft fell on Arab soil. Not surprisingly, as the Arab countries slowly achieved their independence, they too wanted to have air forces. In 1948 the first such Arab air forces were thrown into battle in an ill-fated attempt to keep Palestine as a primarily Arab country. Based on decades of consistent research, but also newly available sources in both Arabic and various European languages, and richly illustrated with a wide range of authentic photography, Volume 2 of the Air Power and the Arab World, 1909-1955 mini-series continues the story of the men and machines of the first half century of military aviation in the Arab World.

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Pages: 72

Dimensions: 210 x 291 mm

Publication Date: 30-09-2020

War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 3 covers the air warfare during the II Angolan War - fought 1975-1992 - through narrating the emergence and operational history of the Angolan Air Force and Air Defence Force (FAPA/DAA) as told by Angolan and Cuban sources. Most accounts of this conflict - better known in the West as the 'Border War' or the 'Bush War', as named by its South African participants - tend to find the operations by the FAPA/DAA barely worth mentioning. A handful of published histories mention two of its MiG-21s claimed as shot down by Dassault Mirage F.1 interceptors of the South African Air Force (SAAF) in 1981 and 1982, and at least something about the activities of its MiG-23 interceptors during the battles of the 1987-1988 period.

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Pages: 72

Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm

Publication Date: 23-11-2020