Michael Napier – лучшие книги

An illustrated account of the development and action-packed service history of the Jaguar attack jet, featuring first-hand accounts from the pilots that flew it into combat.

Developed as a joint venture between Britain and France, the SEPECAT Jaguar was originally intended to be a jet trainer aircraft, but quickly evolved to fulfil a need for a supersonic attack jet with close air support, reconnaissance and tactical nuclear strike capabilities. After first entering service in the 1970s, it flew operational missions for the RAF almost continuously between 1990 and 2003, including numerous combat missions during the first Gulf War and Bosnian War, and reconnaissance missions over northern Iraq and the Balkans.

In this eventful volume, former RAF pilot Michael Napier expertly chronicles the storied career of the Jaguar, as well as the remarkable experiences of those that flew it into combat. Complemented by 24 aircraft profiles that demonstrate the variety of colours worn and ordnance employed by the Jaguar, a combination of detailed research, first-hand accounts and both official and personal photographs bring to life the actions of an aircraft that was a mainstay of the RAF's attack force for more than a decade.

Michael Napier describes the naval air power deployed by NATO, Warsaw Pact and neutral countries throughout the Cold War.

In 1949, an Iron Curtain was drawn across Europe, and the Cold War that ensued between the Western North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact lasted through to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. NATO and Warsaw Pact naval forces spread over the world's oceans, and the powerful forces of the US Navy's Second Fleet patrolled the North Atlantic, while the Sixth Fleet was positioned in the Mediterranean. The age of the nuclear-powered supercarrier arrived in 1957 with the USS Forrestal, while the Soviet Union's first aircraft carrier, the Kiev, was commissioned in 1975.

In Over Cold War Seas, respected aviation author Michael Napier examines the naval air power of the major combatant forces as it developed from 1949 through to 1989. All the major naval aircraft types are covered, both fixed wing and helicopters, which entered service in the 1950s for light transport or rescue duties and evolved into multi-purpose machines capable of performing anti-submarine and airborne early warning missions. This detailed text is supported by a wide range of first-hand accounts of operational flying during the Cold War, as well as over 220 high-quality, contemporary images.

Michael Napier details the critical role of air power in the skies over Afghanistan, from the ten-year occupation by the USSR in the 1980s through to the US and NATO campaign from 2001 to 2021. US and British forces, strongly supported by air power, invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 in response to the Al Qaida attacks on 9/11. What began as a small-scale operation of 2,500 troops with the limited objective of destroying Al Qaida became ever larger, growing to over 100,000 troops ten years later. This experience matched that of the Soviets after their invasion in late 1979, when they saw a massive increase in resistance by…

A spectacularly illustrated new history and analysis of the strategic bombing campaign in the Korean War, which saw the last combat of America's legendary B-29s.

Just five years after they defeated Japan, at the dawn of the jet age, the most advanced bomber of World War II was already obsolescent. But the legendary war-winning Superfortresses had one more war to fight, in the strategic air campaign against North Korea.

The bombers' task was to destroy North Korea's facilities for waging war, from industry and hydroelectric dams to airfields and bridges. However, it was a challenging campaign, in which the strategy was not merely military but political. In this fascinating book, airpower scholar and former RAF pilot Michael Napier explains how the campaign was fought, and how the technique of 'bombing to negotiate' that would become notorious in Vietnam was already being used in Korea. He analyses in detail the relationship between battlefield progress, armistice negotiations and the bombing strategy developed over the complex campaign.

In the skies over Korea, the B-29s operated in a new world dominated by jet fighters and jet age technology, and tactics were developing rapidly. Packed with original illustrations, this book includes dramatic air scenes featuring B-29s, MiG-15s, AD Skyraiders and Skyknight jet nightfighters in action. It also includes maps, 3D recreations of missions and explanatory 3D diagrams to bring the conflict to life.

This is a fascinating, dramatic account of the last battles of the piston-engined aircraft era as the superpowers vied for victory in the first clash of the Cold War.

Former RAF Tornado pilot Michael Napier chronicles the action-packed history of the Harrier GR 7/9, and its missions in West Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan over a 14-year period of ceaseless operations.

The Harrier GR 7/9 was at the 'tip of the spear' for the RAF when it came to employing weapons against well-equipped standing armies and irregular forces in the 1990s and during the first decade of the new millennium. Assigned to the Harrier GR 7/9 Force, the aircraft undertook No Fly Zone patrols over northern Iraq, supported UN forces in the Balkans and embarked in Royal Navy carriers to bolster the RAF presence ashore in the Arabian Gulf. Harrier GR 7s also flew from HMS Illustrious over Sierra Leone in 2000 and were involved in the second Gulf War during early 2003 acting as Close Air Support for Coalition forces.

Using first-hand accounts from his extensive Service contacts, supported by both official and personal photographs and 30 artwork profiles illustrating the wide range of colours worn and ordnance employed by the 'jump jet', Michael Napier provides a rare insider's look at the deployment of Harrier GR 7/9 up to its withdrawal from RAF service in 2010. Moreover, Napier also covers the numerous upgrades received by the aircraft over the years, from more powerful engines to the creation of the GR 9/9A variants in 2005.

From acclaimed aviation historian Michael Napier, this is a highly illustrated survey of the aerial fighting in the flashpoints of the Cold War.

The Cold War years were a period of unprecedented peace in Europe, but they also saw a number of localised but nonetheless very intense conflicts in which air power played a vital role. The postwar years saw a revolution in aviation technology and design, particularly in the fields of missile development and electronic warfare, and these conflicts saw some of the most modern technology of the NATO and Warsaw Pact forces deployed, alongside some relatively obscure aircraft types such as the Westland Wyvern and the Folland Gnat.

Flashpoints describes eight of these Cold War conflicts: the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Congo Crisis of 1960-63, the India-Pakistan Wars of 1965 and 1971, the Arab-Israeli Wars of 1967 and 1973, the Falklands War of 1982 and the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88. In each of these campaigns, both sides had a credible air force equipped with modern types, and air power played a significant part in the outcome of the whole conflict. While some accounts of these conflicts have been previously published, none give a comprehensive, detailed and unbiased description of the events at a tactical level.

Highly illustrated, with some 240 images and maps, Flashpoints is an authoritative account of the most important small air wars of the Cold War.

The Vickers Wellington was one of very few aircraft types to have been in production and frontline service throughout World War II, and more than 10,000 Wellingtons were built in the period. They took part in the first RAF bombing mission of the conflict when, on 4 September 1939, 14 examples from Nos 9 and 149 Sqns undertook a daring daylight attack on the Kiel Canal. However, after suffering high losses on follow-up raids, Wellingtons were withdrawn from daytime missions and began to operate at night from May 1940. They subsequently took part in raids against the Italian port city of Genoa in July 1940, and against Berlin the following month, followed by key missions in the ‘Battle of the Barges' in September and October, as the RAF targeted the Germany's invasion fleet being assembled in French Channel ports. When RAF's strike force expanded the next year following the introduction of the improved Wellington II, the 21 squadrons equipped with the Vickers aircraft, which included Polish-, Canadian- and Australian-manned units, formed the backbone of the Bomber Command night bombing force. Over the next two years Wellingtons participated in all the major operations by Bomber Command, including the daylight raid against German battleships in Brest harbour in July 1942 and the first three ‘Thousand Bomber' raids in the summer of 1942.

This illustrated study explores the design, development, and deployment of the Vickers-Wellington type, charting its role in World War II from its earliest missions to its use in training after its withdrawal from frontline bomber missions in 1943. The text is supported by stunning full-colour artwork.

When the Gulf Crisis of 1990 was triggered by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the RAF responded by sending Tornado F 3 fighters to Saudi Arabia to help defend the country against further aggression. These aircraft were followed by the deployment of Tornado GR 1 strike/attack aircraft to Bahrain. Eventually three wings of Tornado GR 1s were established in Bahrain, Tabuk and Dhahran, as well as a detachment of Tornado GR 1A reconnaissance aircraft. At the start of hostilities in January 1991, the Tornado GR 1 wings carried out night-low-level attacks against Iraqi Main Operating Bases using the JP233 runway denial weapon. Meanwhile, Combat Air Patrols from the Tornado F 3 wing ensured the integrity of Saudi airspace.

Once air supremacy had been established, the Tornado GR 1 force moved to medium-level operations, initially by night and later by day, to attack the Iraqi oil production and storage infrastructure. The arrival in theatre of a laser designation capability with Pave Spike/Buccaneer and TIALD/Tornado enabled precision attacks against the Iraq transport system to cut off the frontline troops from resupply and reinforcement and then to carry out a systematic destruction of the airfield facilities. Tornado GR 1A reconnaissance operations played a major role in the location of Scud missile launchers and in the planning and execution of the land offensive. Throughout the conflict, the Tornado F 3 wing at Dhahran carried out defensive counter-air operations to ensure the safety of the base areas. This volume, publishing 30 years after the conflict to free Kuwait, provides detailed first-hand accounts of the missions undertaken by the Tornado crews. It is illustrated by photographs taken by aircrew involved in the operation and includes 30 newly commissioned profile artworks and detailed nose art views of the aircraft ranged against Iraq.

After the Gulf War of 1990, No Fly Zones (NFZ) were established over northern and southern Iraq and the Tornado GR 1 force stepped up to operations over the southern NFZ.

The Tornado GR 4 took responsibility for RAF combat air operations in Afghanistan from the Harrier force in 2009, and in 2011 was involved in missions against the Gaddafi regime in Libya. The unique multirole capabilities of the aircraft enabled it to support ground operations with the Raptor reconnaissance pod, Brimstone missiles and Paveway IV laser-guided bombs until withdrawal in 2014. The Tornado GR 4 was also used for operations over Iraq and Syria against the ISIL terrorist organisation. Intensive air operations were flown between 2014 and 2019, when the Tornado GR 4 was finally withdrawn from RAF Service.

This volume, written by former RAF pilot Michael Napier, provides detailed first-hand accounts of the missions undertaken by the Tornado crews during the most recent conflicts over the Middle East and the Balkans.