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Designed as a mass-produced and relatively cheap light tactical fighter, the MiG-29 first flew on October 6, 1977. After extensive flight testing, it entered production in 1982 and deliveries to the Soviet Air Force began in 1983. In addition to its main counter-air role, the aircraft had a useful air-to-ground capability, carrying free-fall bombs and unguided rockets. From the outset the MiG-29 had been steadily developed beyond the fourth generation with changes to the airframe, avionics and weapons systems and new variants were produced in the early 2000s. The MiG-29 known as the Fulcrum in the west, became both one of the Soviet Air Force's main fighter types and a successful Soviet expo...
This volume deals with the current state of the Russian Air Arm, explaining its structure and order of battle in the light of recent reorganizations. Also included are accounts of the first and second Chechen Wars, and brief descriptions of all aircraft types currently in use.
Features;* Profiles of iconic types such as the Mil MI-24 'Hind', the Mil-28 and the Kamov Ka-52 'Alligator'.* Summary of design histories and careers* Colour reference for paint schemes * Critical review of available kits* Over 180 colour and black and white illustrations, including 20 full colour side-views and a range of various 3-view line-drawings. With profiles of a host of exciting designs, accompanied by a descriptive narrative history of the various types, this volume combines practical information with reflective historical analysis, making for a visually rich volume providing modellers with all they need to know about the most exciting Russian Gunship helicopter designs and associ...
Early in the 20th century, shortly after military aviation came on the scene, Imperialist Russia started using aircraft to support the operations of the Russian Navy. Rapid development of naval aviation continued after the October Revolution of 1917 and Soviet naval airmen flying fighters and torpedo-bombers made a significant contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany in the Great Patriotic War. Yet the heyday of Soviet Naval Aviation (or AVMF) was in the post-war years. While in the late 1940s the AVMF relied largely on indigenous and American propeller-driven aircraft that had survived the fray, in the 1950s the naval airmen began mastering jets. The AVMF units started re-equipping with I...
8 1/2 x 11, 220 color and b&w photosInitially criticized as 'obsolete at the moment of birth' due to its biplane layout, this aircraft has put the skeptics to shame. It may lack the glamour of the fast jets, but it has proved itself time and time again as an indispensable and long-serving workhorse. In terms of longevity and sheer numbers built, the Annushka (Annie), as the An-2 was affectionately known, has few parallels. Indeed, limited production of this aircraft, which first flew in 1947, still continues in China and Poland. The An-2 is a very robust and easy-to-fly aircraft. This and its excellent field performance (thanks to the 'obsolete biplane layout'!) have made it an ideal aircraf...
As early as 1965, when the MiG-25 interceptor was in the midst of its test program, the Mikoyan Design Bureau started work on an even more capable two-seat interceptor meant to provide adequate protection for the huge expanses of Siberia and the Soviet Far East. Though superficially resembling a MiG-25 with tandem cockpits, the aircraft was soon designated the MiG-31. Initially dubbed Super Foxbat in the West but soon renamed Foxhound, the MiG-31 first flew on 16 September 1975 and, after a five-year trials program, achieved initial operational capability in 1980. Full-scale deliveries began in 1982 to units covering the Moscow Air Defense Zone, the Arctic and the Far East. One of the effect...
This is the definitive reference source examining all aspects of one of the most powerful air forces in the world, the Chinese. Although China has been a significant air power for more than fifty years, very little has been published or even known about its capabilities. Along with the recent emergence of China as a world economic and military superpower, China has recently invested huge sums of money in modernizing its air force, developing its own aircraft and technology as well as buying from overseas. This remarkable new book unveils for the very first time, the full details of the organization, capabilities, and aircraft of all Chinese air forces - the third largest in the world today. It details the Chinese air force's order of battle, from the top command down to the operational regiments and squadrons. It also includes descriptions and specifications of the Air Force and the NSavy main fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft.
A complete history of the famous Mikoyan Design Bureau from its establishment in 1939 to the present day. Every type developed by the Mikoyan OKB is dealt with in detail, with descriptions of all known versions and a wealth of recently declassified data.
In both Soviet and modern Russia a multitude of assorted aircraft have been used for test and research purposes - primarily for verifying new avionics, systems, and weaponry. The use of systems being tested was not limited to aviation as aircraft were also utilized for other purposes including testing components of ballistic missile systems. Soviet and Russian Testbed Aircraft investigates all categories of test and research aircraft: engine testbeds including the Il-76LL and Tu-16LL, radar testbeds such as the SL-18P based on the well-known Il-18 airliner; electronic warfare system testbeds such as the Il-76-11, and those for weapons, aerodynamics, and control configured vehicles like the L...
This book surveys all the Soviet/Russian aircraft that either remained “paper projects” (the work progressed no further than the design documents or even merely a design proposal) or were abandoned at the prototype construction stage. Over many years, the authors have unearthed a mass of unpublished material on these aircraft projects including the Isayev/Shevchenko bi-monoplane fighters with retractable lower wings developed in the 1930s, early Soviet jet fighter projects of the Second World War period, and the twin-boom fighters and attack aircraft developed by Semyon M. Alekseyev in the late 1940s. Wherever possible, images of the aircraft are shown, including pictures of models, and line and cutaway drawings from the project documents, giving the readers the maximum available information on Soviet aircraft projects developed over a large time scale. The book is richly illustrated with numerous photos, drawings, and diagrams, as well as color side views of the unbuilt aircraft, which will be of interest not only to the numerous Soviet/Russian aviation enthusiasts but also to scale modelers.