JET WARS IN THE NUCLEAR AGE

Bowman is one of Britain's best known WW2 aviation historians and authors and here he looks at Jet Engines 1972 to the present, illustrating how fighter-bombers and tactics have developed and evolved since the 1970s. It covers all the most significant military conflicts including the Eleven Day War of Christmas 1972 in Vietnam and the Falklands Air War 1982, when Harrier pilots engaged in aerial battles with Skyhawks and when Vulcans, supported by Victor tankers, flew 'Black Buck' raids on Argentine positions. It also explores the era of the Gulf War, which witnessed the Victor and the B-52 fighting alongside Buccaneers, Tornadoes and F-111s. Then there is the ongoing war against terror, culminating in the opening stages of 'Inherent Resolve' which has seen Tornadoes, F/A-18 Hornets, Soviet-built Su-24M2 and Su-30CM jet fighters, Su-25 SM armoured subsonic close air support/attack aircraft, Su-34 multi-role fighter/bombers and the Tupolev Tu-160 'Blackjack' heavy strategic bombers employed in the war against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Eight individual chapters look at the part played by the earliest V-bombers - the Vulcan, Victor and Valiant - and fighter-bombers in the Nuclear Age. There are a range of first-hand accounts and snippets from pilot testimony plus well researched historical narrative to create a rounded sense of events as they played out during this dynamic period of aviation history. There are gripping descriptions of the B-52 raids on Hanoi, intended to force the North Vietnamese back to the conference table, US raid on Libya. Includes many colour and dozens of mono plates, 256pp.