AIR WARS 1920-1939

The development and evolution of fighter tactics with particular concentration on the interwar period. The increase in aircraft engine power led to recognition that ideas emanating from the First World War would have to be either modified or completely replaced. Ultimately this increase in engine thrust resulted in the emergence of all-metal monoplane fighters with enough speed for a single wing to provide life to get both the heavy engine and the rest of the aeroplane into the air and keep it there. There was a debate whether the unbridled manoeuvrability of a biplane was more important. The logic was that any money spent on fighters to defend the home territory was simply wasted and could be better used on the purchase of an even larger fleet of fast self-defending bombers. During these years there were three bitterly contested regional air wars fought over the skies of Spain (1936-39), China (1937-1941), and the Mongolia-Manchuria border (May to September 1939). Finland and France were testing grounds for a new approach to air tactics, with western democracies and totalitarian states taking note of the resulting lessons. Several countries chose to learn from these conflicts, but others to ignore them - the Soviet Union - the Soviet state directly involved in those air wars failed to apply new air tactics during the Winter War, while Finland, a country that had no previous involvement in air wars during this time, successfully implemented new aerial tactics. How was the intelligence collected? Why were the lessons learnt during these conflicts often not applied in future combat? The answers are fully explored alongside 50 high quality images. The book also covers Burma and the Chaco War (1928-1935). 176pp.