When the U-2 first took off in 1955, no one involved in its top-secret project dreamt that this unique reconnaissance aircraft would still be flying today. The long story of the Dragon Lady is amazing, and complex; this book tells it all, in unprecedented detail, from the early days overflying the Soviet Union under CIA sponsorship, to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and on to the Vietnam War. The epic missions over Communist China were flown by nationalist pilots from Taiwan. How the U-2 was improved, enlarged and put back into production - twice. It led the real-time recce revolution with data links and high-tech sensors. Then it played a key role in Desert Storm, over Bosnia and Kosovo, and most recently over Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the CIA's own historian, Chris Pocock is the foremost authority on the U-2. To write this book, he flew in the aircraft, conducted 250 interviews, and analysed more than 1,000 declassified documents.

In this fascinating narrative history, internationally recognized military expert Martin van Creveld narrates the rise and fall of the most glamorous offensive and defensive instrument of war in military history--airpower. From the scenes of its greatest exploits during World War I and II, to present day where the advent of ballistic missiles, drones, and other computer-controlled weaponry threaten to eclipse its use all together, van Creveld recounts the successes and failures of airpower to date and shows how its triumphs are fast becoming a thing of the past.

No single human invention has transformed war more than the airplane--not even the atomic bomb. Even before the Wright Brothers' first flight, predictions abounded of the devastating and terrible consequences this new invention would have as an engine of war. Soaring over the battlefield, the airplane became an unstoppable force that left no spot on earth safe from attack. Drawing on combat memoirs, letters, diaries, archival records, museum collections, and eyewitness accounts by the men who fought--and the men who developed the breakthrough inventions and concepts--acclaimed author Stephen Budiansky weaves a vivid and dramatic account of the airplane's revolutionary transformation of modern warfare.

On the web: http: //www.budiansky.com/

This handsome, large-format book takes the reader on an illustrated tour of the U.S. Army's hard-hitting airborne forces, from the original Parachute Test Platoon of 1940 to the multiple global commitment of the twenty-first century. Featuring more than 150 photographs, some rare or seldom seen and many in color, the work highlights the extraordinary history of the airborne units as they added new dimensions to national power and military operations, arriving from the sky by parachute and aircraft and compressing time by their swift deployment and flight to objectives thousands of miles distant. Airborne operations of World War II in the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Pacific begin an inspiring story that leads through Korea, Vietnam, and into the twenty-first century. The operations take a prominent place in the story, along with the paratroopers who received the nation's highest award for heroism, the Medal of Honor. The esprit de corps of the airborne volunteers and their sacrifices in peace and war are consistent themes throughout the book. Whether operating as small groups of paratroopers scattered about the countryside or as powerful parachute infantry regiments, brigades, or divisions, the airborne spirit is always evident. Coauthors John Greenwood and Robert K. Wright highlight key leaders and crucial battles spanning more than six decades to help tell this exciting story. Through skillful integration of photographs and text, they show how lessons learned in combat led to improved doctrine and the development of equipment that enhanced the mobility and striking power of these versatile units. This book is published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army.

The first aircraft to sink a submarine was a small flying boat of the Austro-Hungarian Naval Air Arm. The year was 1916 and by that time in World War I, the airplane had come to be appreciated as an important antisubmarine weapon by all combatants. With the arrival of World War II the survival of Great Britain was put in doubt by the massive destruction inflicted on the North Atlantic lifeline by German submarines. The development of anti-submarine warfare from the air was a major factor in decreasing the number of casualties to Allied merchant shipping. This book tells the story of the cat-and-mouse tactics employed by aviators and submariners to outwit each other. It also covers the development of electronic warfare and purpose-built weapons and the role they played in the lethal duel fought over World War II waters. This new edition of a book that has become a standard on the subject includes accounts of some of the most dramatic actions during both wars.

This volume explores how warfare has changed over the last few decades and why airpower has become a dominant factor in war. The case studies emphasize the importance of connecting policy and airpower: operational effectiveness cannot substitute for poor statecraft. As the United States, its allies, and Israel have seen in their most recent applications of airpower, even the most robust and capable air weapon can never be more effective than the strategy and policy it is intended to support. By analyzing the operational history of the world's most battle-tested air forces, the accounts in this book can give military professionals insight into the political context in which air operations must be assessed, build their appreciation of the strategic value of airpower, and serve as a practical guide to the best uses of this potentially decisive tool.

In over 270 color photographs, this book is a tour through modern aircraft paint schemes and markings, with its sharks teeth, heavy metal magic, and racy ladies. The reader will journey to: a European Tiger Meet where tiger and jungle cat paint schemes are the rule and not the exception - A-10 Thunderbolts and F-4 Phantom IIs - a stroll into Operation Desert Storm, and a first hand look at the Tornados, Victors, and C-130s which were participants - for perhaps the first time, a close-up look into the weapons bays of the now infamous F-117 Stealth fighter and the hidden humor of weapons bay art - a look at the colorful metaphors painted on the weapons to be delivered to Saddam Hussein - rare F-105 Thunderchief bomb bay door art, and the clever names on the intakes and panels of just about any active duty aircraft of the last twenty years. \nJohn and Donna Campbell are the authors of Talisman - A Collection of Nose Art, from Schiffer Military/ Aviation History.

Strategic Air Command was created because of the Air Force's internal beliefs, but the organization evolved as it responded to the external environment created by the Cold War. In the aftermath of World War II and the creation of an independent air service, the Air Force formed SAC because of a belief in the military potential of strategic bombing centralized under one commander. As the Cold War intensified, so did SAC's mission.

In order to prepare SAC's "warriors" to daily fight an enemy they did not see, as well as to handle the world's most dangerous arsenal, the command, led by General Curtis LeMay, emphasized security, personal responsibility, and competition among the command. Its resources, political influence, and manning grew as did its "culture" until reaching its peak during the Cuban Missile Crisis. SAC became synonymous with the Cold War and its culture forever changed the Air Force as well as those who served.

Area 51's most important military aviation developments are profiled in an illustrated format. When most of us think of Area 51, we think of aliens, UFOs, and controversial government cover-ups. It's easy to forget that, since the mid-1950s, the United States' famed extension of Edwards Air Force Base has served as a top-secret CIA testing ground for many of the most groundbreaking advancements in American military aviation technology. In Area 51 - Black Jets, author and military historian Bill Yenne offers the first fully illustrated chronology of Area 51's most famous aircraft projects, including Lockheed's U-2 "Dragon Lady" and SR-71 "Blackbird" reconnaissance planes, drones ranging from the early Lockheed D-21 to the modern-day General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, and the famous F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter produced by the Have Blue program during the 1970s. Each project is given its own fascinating chapter illuminating the aircraft's development at this famed location. But beyond the aircraft themselves, Area 51 - Black Jets also covers a handful of the many classified experimental programs carried out at Area 51 over the years, such as Have Doughnut, Have Ferry, and Have Drill - secret undertakings that successfully reverse-engineered such enemy aircraft as the Russian MiG during the Cold War. Illustrated with historic color and black-and-white photographs, diagrams, and maps, this book reveals Area 51 for what it truly is: a clandestine area for the United States' most cutting-edge technological innovators in military aviation.

Osprey's examination of the B-24 Liberator Units' participation in World War II (1939-1945). The B-24 Liberator was built in greater numbers than any other US warplane, yet its combat crews live, even today, in the shadow of the less plentiful, but better-known, B-17. Accounts of the 'Mighty Eighth' in Europe, and indeed many of the books and films that emerged from the greatest air campaign in history, often overlook the B-24, even though it was in action for as long as the Flying Fortress, and participated in just as many perilous daylight bombing missions.