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This book provides a unique, illustrated history of the US Navy Fighter Weapons School's 50-year history. Currently located at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, TOPGUN was formed in late 1968 at Naval Air Station Miramar, California, to create a graduate-level course in fighter tactics for Navy pilots deploying to Vietnam. Before TOPGUN, Navy F-4 Phantom II fighter crews in Vietnam managed only a 2.5:1 kill ratio versus Soviet-built MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters: after TOPGUN formed, the community tallied a 12.5:1 kill ratio. Since then, TOPGUN has become the standard-bearer of Navy fighter and strike fighter tactics and training and is recognized worldwide as a center of excellence. TOPGUN's tactics and pilot training are explained, as well as changes and developments throughout the years to the present day. All aircraft flown at TOPGUN since its founding are also shown, including A-4 Skyhawk, T-38A/B Talon, F-5E/F Tiger II, F-16N Viper, F-14A Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet, F-16A/B Falcon, and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
The history of air combat has seen one recurring theme--new tactics are learned in battle, forgotten or discarded when battle concludes, and relearned at great cost during the next war. This cycle continued into the 1960s, when America was drawn into the Vietnam War. Despite having a skill and equipment advantage, US Navy aircrews were faring poorly against North Vietnamese fighters. Air combat lessons learned during prior wars, and since forgotten or deemed inapplicable due to advances in technology, were once again relevant. TOPGUN, the Navy's Fighter Weapons School, was established in 1968 to teach Navy aircrews the core air combat tactics, to train others in those tactics, and to ensure ...
The Lockheed S-3 Viking was developed in the late 1960s to serve as a dedicated carrier-based anti-submarine aircraft. Over the years, it evolved into an outstanding surveillance and anti-surface platform, effective not only against submarines but also large and small surface ships. As its nearly 35-year career came to an end in 2009, the Viking also took on the carrier air wing organic tanking requirements, retiring with more than half of its service life remaining. A total of 187 aircraft were built and served in 16 US Navy squadrons. The Viking and its main variant, the highly classified ES-3A Shadow electronic surveillance aircraft, played a key role in the Cold War and in the conflicts ...
This book is a concise, illustrated history of the US Navy and Marine Corps' most versatile jet strike fighter, the Boeing F/A-18 A-D Legacy Hornet. Presenting an historical perspective of the Legacy Hornet from its origins through today's use in the fleet, this edition explores the aircraft's various model upgrades and variants. The F/A-18 began as a less expensive complement to the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and Grumman A-6 Intruder, and was a replacement for the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II and LTV A-7 Corsair II. The Hornet evolved into a capable multi-mission strike fighter, performing fighter, suppression of enemy air defense, and light attack missions. This volume features a number of high-quality images that highlight the aircraft throughout its Navy and Marine Corps career.
The Nimitz class aircraft carrier is the ultimate symbol of the United States superpower status. A true behemoth, this is an unsurpassed weapons platform that overshadows all of its nearest rivals. A history of the world's largest aircraft carriers, with runways over 300 meters long, this book looks at the development and deployment of the nuclear-powered Nimitz class aircraft carriers from 1975 when the USS Nimitz, the lead ship of the class, was commissioned, to the present day. All of the class are still operational and the tenth and last of the class, the USS George H. W. Bush, was commissioned in 2009. Here, Brad Elward provides a detailed overview of their design and development, highlighting their unique features, from jet blast deflectors to cutting edge radar systems, and a history of the Nimitz class in service, from deployment in the Gulf during Operation Desert Storm, through to the enforcement of the no fly zone over Bosnia.
This top-flight series provides a review of the world's most exciting combat aircraft.
The story of how the Super Hornet and Growler came into existence is the focus of this new book. The F/A-18E/F has its roots in the late-1980s Hornet 2000 study, which itself evaluated ways to enhance the range, payload, and bring-back capability of the existing F/A-18 Hornet. Through a series of trade-offs imposed by largely limited defense funds, what emerged was a versatile, affordable strike fighter aircraft that has served the Navy well since its fleet introduction in 2002. The Growler has a similar history. Itself an offshoot of the Super Hornet program, the EA-18G brought many of the Super Hornet's attributes - speed, maneuverability, self-defense capability, and advanced systems - in...
The second of two books on the Navy's Phantom II MiG killers of the Vietnam War, this book covers the numerous actions fought out over North Vietnam during the Linebacker I and II operations of 1972-73. No fewer than 17 MiGs were downed during this period, five of them by the Navy's sole aces of the conflict, Lts Randy Cunningham and Willie Driscoll of VF-96. Drawing on primary sources such as surviving Phantom II aircrew and official navy documentation, the author has assembled the most precise appraisal of fighter operations involving US Navy Phantom II units and those elusive MiGs ever seen in print.
The Forrestal class (Forrestal, Saratoga, Ranger, and Independence) was the first completed class of US Navy supercarriers, so-named for their 25 percent size increase over the World War II-era carriers such as the Midway class, and the strength of their air wings (80–100 aircraft, compared to 65–75 for the Midway, and fewer than 50 for the Essex class). Design-wise, the Forrestals were a huge improvement over their predecessors, being more stable and comfortable, while maintaining advancements such as the armored flight decks that had been introduced with the Midway. The Kitty Hawk class was an improvement on the Forrestal-class designs, and four were built in the 1960s – Kitty Hawk, Constellation, America and John F. Kennedy. These were even longer than the Forrestals, and fitted with advanced defensive weapons systems and an improved elevator layout. All nine of the carriers covered by this volume are icons, and hold a much-respected place in US naval history. They are also some of the more well-known vessels outside of the military, for their long service histories, as well as for some of the more unfortunate events that seem to follow them.
For every American fighter pilot involved in the Vietnam War, the ultimate goal was to 'kill a MiG'. In eight years of conflict 43 Vietnamese Peoples Air Force aircraft were claimed by US Navy and US Marine Corps Phantom II crews, and one single ace crew produced. Navy Phantom IIs scored the first kills of the Vietnam War, in April 1965, as well as scoring the last in January 1973. This volume charts the successes of the navy fighter crews as they encountered 'MiGs, Missiles and AAA' over the jungles of North Vietnam.