Airpower Classics

This book is the story of Elmer C. Jones, a young man who grew up during the Great Depression and who joined the military in 1943, becoming a member of the Army's Air Corps in 1944. He was the radar observer of a B-29 Superfortress bomber crew flying 28 combat missions over Japan in 1945--13 bombing missions and 15 photographic reconnaissance missions, including the longest mission of the war: 4,650 miles in 23:00 hours. He accumulated 489:50 combat flying hours during the war.

Much has been made about the planning for and execution of the aerial dimension of the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq. A major debate both within and outside of the US Air Force has been associated with the influence of Col John Warden. He was then a member of the Air Staff in the Pentagon and theoretically without an assigned function in theater-level campaign planning. Arguments that the Gulf War was a manifestation of a revolution in military affairs (RMA) with profound implications have greatly but unnecessarily complicated the debate. Equally important is the argument that antedated the Gulf War to the effect that such conflicts between states using conventional weapons and methods are a passing phenomenon. The Gulf War might have been the last of its breed.

Following the Second World War, major advancements in aviation technology allowed the development of jet aircraft with capabilities undreamt of only a few years earlier. During the 1950s, the US Air Force placed six new jet fighters into service, which became known as the Century Series Fighters. In this publication the histories of the F-100 Super Sabre, F-101 Voodoo, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, F-105 Thunderchief, and the F-106 Delta Dart are related.

This title is an illustrated guide to the development of the aircraft as an instrument of naval power from its inception in the early 20th century to the modern day. Naval warfare was transformed by airpower, but it was a hit and miss process. The Royal Navy pioneered the use of aircraft carriers during World War I, but famously lost Prince of Wales and Repulse to land based Japanese bombers in 1941. From the early days of airships and bi-planes, the carrier planes of the Pacific to the very latest in carrier based strike aircraft, and anti-submarine helicopters, Bernard Ireland reveals how airpower has revolutionized naval warfare.