Bøger i Middle East@War serien

Designed by Sydney Camm as a swept wing, daytime interceptor with excellent maneuverability, the Hunter became the first jet aircraft manufactured by Hawker for the Royal Air Force. It set numerous aviation records and saw widespread service with a large number of RAF units in Europe and abroad. When the Royal Air Force received newer aircraft capable of supersonic speeds to perform the interceptor duties, many Hunters were modified and re-equipped for ground-attack and reconnaissance missions instead. Because they were deemed surplus to British requirements, most of these were subsequently refurbished and exported to foreign customers - so also to Iraq and Jordan. Hawker Hunters at War covers every aspect of Hunter's service in the two countries, from in-depth coverage of negotiations related to their export to Iraq and Jordan, to all-important details of their operational service during 1958-67. It culminates in detailed examination of their role in the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War (also known as the 'Six Days War') and extensive tables listing all aircraft delivered and their fates. Almost entirely based on interviews with retired commanding officers and pilots of the former Royal Iraqi Air Force, Iraqi Air Force and Royal Jordanian Air Force - as well as plenty of unpublished official documents from British, Iraqi and Jordanian archives - the narrative is providing an unprecedented insight into a number of contemporary affairs. Profusely illustrated with well over 100 photographs and 15 color profiles showing all aspects of camouflage, markings and various equipment, Hawker Hunters at War is the ultimate profile of Hunter's colorful and action-packed service in Iraq and Jordan during a period when this legendary type formed the backbone of local air forces.

Based on decades of research and newly available sources in Arabic and European languages, and illustrated with authentic photography, Volume 2 of the 'Air Power and the Arab World, 1909-1955' continues the story of the men and machines of the first half century of military aviation in the Arab World.

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.

1973: the First Nuclear War provides an in-depth insight into the Israeli efforts to prevent the deployment of Egyptian Scud missiles - whether armed with Soviet nuclear warheads or not - in the Port Said area.

Virtually born in battle, collecting precious combat experience and playing involved in so many conflicts, the Iraqi Air Force remains one of the most misinterpreted military services in the Middle East. Wings over Iraq provides a uniquely compact yet comprehensive guide to its operational history, officers, aircraft, and major operations.

Volume 2 takes up the account after Iraq withdrew from Khuzestan and is based upon material from both sides, from US Intelligence data, British Government documents and secret Iraqi files. Iraq¿s withdrawal exposed the great southern city of Basra to Iranian attack but it was shielded by fortifications based upon a huge anti-tank ditch, the so-called Fish Lake, which the Iranians tried to storm in the summer of 1982. This bloody failure left Tehran in a position where prestige prevented a withdrawal into Iran but the armed forces lacked the resources to bring the conflict to a favourable conclusion. During the next four years the Iranians tried to outflank the Fish Lake defences initially through the marshes in the north and finally through an attack on the Fao Peninsula which increased national prestige but was a strategic failure and paved the way for Iraq¿s massive victories in 1988. This followed a series of successful defensive battles in which the Iranians were driven back with great loss. This account describes the battles in greater detail than before and, by examining them, provides unique insights and ends many of the myths which are repeated in many other accounts of this conflict.

Sixty years since the tripartite aggression of France, Great Britain and Israel against Egypt, this is the first account about Egyptian military operations during the Suez War of 1956 (or 'Suez Crisis', as it is known in the West). Based on research with the help of official Egyptian documentation and recollections of crucial participants, this book provides an unique and exclusive insight into the 'other side' of a war that many consider has marked 'the end of the British Empire'. From the Western point of view, the situation is usually explained in quite simple terms: in retaliation for President Gamal Abdel Nasser's nationalization of the Universal Suez Canal Company - and thus the strategically important waterway of the Suez Canal - France and Great Britain (operating in concert with Israel) launched the operation codenamed 'Musketeer'. Divided into three phases, each shaded into the other; this aimed at obliterating the Egyptian Air Force, occupying the whole of the Suez Canal and toppling Nasser's government. From the Egyptian point of view, backgrounds were much more complex than this. Striving to modernize the country, a new and inexperienced government in Cairo launched a number of major projects, including one for the construction of a gigantic Asswan Dam on the Nile. The only Western power ready to help finance this project, the USA conditioned its support with basing rights for its military. With the last British soldiers still about to leave the country - and thus end Egypt's occupation by foreign powers for the first time in 2,000 years - Nasser found this unacceptable. Around the same time, Egypt found itself under pressure from Israeli raids against border posts on the Sinai. Left without a solution, Cairo decided to nationalize the Suez Canal in order to finance the Aswan Dam project, but also to start purchasing arms from the Soviet Union. In an attempt to bolster Egyptian defenses without antagonizing Western powers, Nasser concluded the so-called 'Czech Arms deal' with Moscow - resulting in the acquisition of Soviet arms via Czechoslovakia. Little known in Cairo at the time, such moves tripped several 'red lines' in Israel and in the West - in turn prompting aggression that culminated in a war. Wings over Sinai is, first and foremost, an account of the battle for survival of the Egyptian Air Force (EAF). Caught in the middle of conversion to Soviet-types, this proved more than a match for Israel, but were hopelessly ill-prepared to face the military might of Great Britain and France too. Sustained, days-long air strikes on Egyptian air bases caused heavy damage, but were nowhere near as crippling as the losses usually claimed and assessed by the British, French and Israelis. The EAF not only survived that conflict in quite a good order, but also quickly recovered. This story is told against the backdrop of the fighting on the ground and the air and naval invasion by British and French forces. Richly illustrated with plenty of new and previously unpublished photographs, maps (and 15 color profiles), this action-packed volume is illustrates all aspects of camouflage, markings and various equipment of British and Soviet origin in Egyptian military service as of 1956.

By participating in 1956 Suez Crisis Israel exploited an opportunity to join forces with France and the United Kingdom in an attack against Egypt in order to accomplish diplomatic, military and political objectives: to open the Red Sea international shipping lane to ships sailing from and to Eilat; to strengthen its alliance with France; to end ...

The development of the F-5 lightweight supersonic fighter in the mid-1950s was almost a gamble for the Northrop Corporation, but ultimately resulted in one of most commercially successful combat aircraft in modern history.

Operation HOREV - the Israeli winter offensive from December 1948 until January 1949 - practically ended Israel's War for Independence (also known as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War), with an Israeli victory that forced Egypt to seek ceasefire and to negotiate a settlement with the fledgling nation.

The Military and Police Forces of the Gulf States, Volume 3, covers the military, police, and selected para-military services of Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar from early 20th Century until 2010.

From the 1970s until the 2000s, the spear tip of the USN air wings was the F-14 Tomcat. Illustrated by over 100 photographs and colour profiles, 'Tomcats of the Storm' is an exclusive source about some of least-well known air combats fought by US Navy's fighter crews in recent history.

The first inclusive history of the war between the US-led coalition and Iraq, fought 1991, largely based on data released from official archives, and spiced with content acquired in the course of dozens of interviews.

The Israeli air force is one of most-published upon military flying services of the last 70 years. Based on more than 30 years of research, this volume provides the so far most comprehensive, most in-depth, and most critical review of its operational history since inception in 1948. This is the first volume in a three-volume mini-series.

This volume is covering one of the least-well-known conflicts in the Middle East, fought in Oman during the second half of the 1950s; and one of very few insurgencies that was successfully suppressed. As such, it provides a host of valuable 'lessons learned'.

The first authoritative and richly illustrated account about air warfare in the Arab World of the period 1911-1955. Volume 4 cover the period of 1936-1941.

A detailed reconstruction of the operational history, camouflage colours, markings, and operational service of MiG-designed fighters in six air forces of the Middle East, from 1967-1975.