Soviet Fighters

Beautifully illustrated with many rare and unpublished photographs, Soviet Cold War Fighters looks at the main development periods of Soviet fighter designs and covers all the important features and developments for each - a total of four generations of fighter were developed from the late 1940s to the early 1980s - that witnessed the most iconic and powerful fighters such as the legendary MiG-15, MiG-21, Tu-128, Su-9, MiG-23, MiG-25 reach for the skies, followed by the modern day MiG-29, MiG-31 and Su-27, which strike fear in the West for their phenomenal weaponry and blistering performance. All aircraft are described in detail with facts and figures, including their weapons and instances of combat employment, as well as explaining how the Cold War drastically changed Soviet fighter design to counter the West. Researched and written by Alexander Mladenov, a leading aviation journalist, this is a highly detailed testament to leading Soviet fighter design and development.

The Red Air Force had just started to re-equip with modern monoplane fighters when the Germans opened Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Hundreds of fighters were destroyed in the first few days, but many of these were obsolete biplanes. Soviet Fighters of the Second World War details fighter development from the dark days of Barbarossa to eventual triumph over Berlin. Starting with outdated aircraft such as the Polikarpov Po-2 biplane and monoplane fighters, the Soviets then settled on two main lines of development: the inline-engine LaGG-3 and its radial-engine derivatives, the La-5 and La-7, and the inline-engine Yakovlev fighters, which were produced in greater numbers than any other series of fighters. Not only are these aircraft accurately described, but experimental fighters are also dealt with. In addition, colour profiles illustrate these aircraft in terms of design, camouflage and markings. From the I-15bis biplane of the late 1930s to the superb La-7 and Yak-3 fighters of the last year of the war, all Red Air Force fighters are covered in this comprehensive volume.

By the end of the Second World War the USA and Great Britain had developed viable jet fighters, even if these aircraft came a bit too late to have a significant impact on the course of the conflict. Germany achieved greater success, using the Me 262 and He 162 jet fighters operationally in the closing stages of the war. In contrast, the Soviet Union lagged behind, even though research on turbojet engines had begun in the USSR in the late 1930s. This deficiency was recognized and at the end of the war, captured German jet aircraft and engines enabled the USSR to reverse-engineer the technology. Even so, the USSR struggled to catch up until in 1946, the British Labor government gifted the Soviets the latest in propulsion technology, the Rolls-Royce Nene and Derwent V engines. This inexplicable action allowed a much more capable generation of Soviet jet fighters to be born and by the end of the 1940s Soviet industry had caught up with, and in some respects surpassed the West, in jet aviation. Because of the Stalinist era in which the first Soviet jets were developed, up until now little has been known about the early post-war designs from the design bureaus of Mikoyan, Yakovlev, Lavochkin, Sukhoi and Alekseyev and the background to even relatively well-known types such as the MiG-9, La-9 and YAK-15 is barely documented. Other early jet types, proposals and projects were virtually unknown in the West. This gap is now redressed by the famous Soviet aviation historian Yefim Gordon and in his latest work he draws on extensive research in design bureau files, official documents and military archives, many of which have only very recently become available, having been labelled 'Top Secret' for decades. This volume presents, in considerable detail, the development, history and technical specifications of the earliest Soviet jet fighters and the extensive illustrations-around 750 photos, over 50 specially-commissioned color drawings and a host of line drawings--are mostly from previously classified sources the majority of which are previously unseen. This book is certain to be essential reading for aviation historians, enthusiasts and modelers.

A “clearly written, profusely illustrated, and well organized” volume on Soviet and European jet fighter design (Air Power History). In his previous book on early jet fighters, Leo Marriott traced the history of the revolutionary aircraft produced by the British and Americans immediately after the Second World War. Now, in this companion volume, he describes jet fighter development on the continent of Europe and in the Soviet Union during the same remarkable period. Using over 200 archive photographs he covers the pioneering German designs, then the range of experimental and operational fighters constructed by the Soviets, the French, and the Swedes. The sheer variety of the designs that manufacturers came up with during this short, intense period of innovation make for fascinating reading. Several of the most famous jet fighters feature prominently in the rare photographs and are analyzed in the expert text, including the Messerschmitt Me 262, the Heinkel He 162, the MiGs 15, 17 and 19, the Dassault Ouragan, and the Saab J29. But perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the book is its record of experimental projects testing new concepts that rapidly became established elements of jet aircraft design. The photographs of these largely forgotten aircraft give us an insight into the extraordinary technical challenges—and the ambition and inventiveness of the designers and manufacturers who overcame them.

The history of Dornier aircraft in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

The Soviet aircraft industry of the 1940-1950 period has been incredibly productive, while Russian manufacturers, stimulated by the huge needs stressed by World War Two, competed with each other in design and creativeness. This book offers an exhaustive coverage, by chronological order which is one of its original features every single Soviet fighter of the period, from obscure projects which did no go off the drawing table, to the best known mass-produced models.

Evgeniy Mariinskiy, a Soviet fighter ace and Hero of the Soviet Union, shot down 20 enemy planes in aerial combat over the Eastern Front between 1943 and 1945. He frequently engaged enemy fighters and bombers, shot down many but was himself shot down several times. This is his extraordinary story. His vivid inside view of the ruthless war in the air on the Eastern Front gives a rare insight into the reality of fighting and tactics of the Red Army Air Force. In his own words, and with a remarkable clarity of recall, Evgeniy Mariinskiy describes what combat was like in the air, face to face with a skilled, deadly and increasingly desperate enemy. The reader can follow his career from an unskilled novice who has just arrived at his regiment through to him becoming an ace, and Hero of the Soviet Union, under the leadership of experienced commanders. The terrifying moments of action, engagements with enemy fighters, forced landings, nervous strain before attacks, loss of comrades and everyday life of pilots - all these aspects of a Soviet fighter pilot's experience during the Great Patriotic War are brought dramatically to life in his memoirs. In his memoirs Mariinskiy describes tactics which enabled him to have an upper hand in dogfights against experienced German pilots. The grand strategy of the campaigns across the Eastern Front is less important here than the sequence of engagements that were the firsthand experience of the author. It is this close-up view of combat that makes Evgeniy Mariinskiy's reminiscences of such value. Key sales points: A gripping and superbly readable memoir of the war in the air over the Eastern Front 1943-45, penned by a Hero of the Soviet Union and air ace credited with 20 victories / Covers the author's full aviation career including training and his initial experiences over the front, as well as his increasingly successful combat with a skilled enemy / Evgeniy Mariinskiy served with the 129th Guards Fighter Regiment 1943-45, undertaking 210 sorties, participating in 60 air-to-air engagements and shooting down 20 enemy aircraft. In 1945 he was awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union.