Her Majesty's Top Gun: and the Decline of the Royal Navy

Her Majesty's Top Gun: and the Decline of the Royal Navy PDF Author: 'Sharkey' Ward
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781631298677
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Her Majesty's Top Gun: and the Decline of the Royal Navy

Her Majesty's Top Gun: and the Decline of the Royal Navy PDF Author: 'Sharkey' Ward
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781631298677
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description


Sea Harrier Over the Falklands

Sea Harrier Over the Falklands PDF Author: Commander 'Sharkey' Ward, DSC, AFC, RN
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 0850523052
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
Sharkey Ward commanded 801 Naval Air Squadron, "HMS Invincible", during the Falkland War of April to June 1982, and was senior Sea Harrier adviser to the command on the tactics, direction and progress of the air war. He flew over 60 war missions, achieved three air-to air kills, and took part in or witnessed a total of ten kills; he was also the leading night pilot, and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry. But what, after all, could 20 Sea Harriers, operating from a flight-deck bucketing about in the South Atlantic, do against more than 200 Argentine military aircraft flown by pilots who, as the raids against the British shipping proved, displayed enormous skill and almost suicidal gallantry? The world knows the answer - now. What is puzzling, therefore, is this book's truthful depiction of the attitudes of some senior non-flying naval officers, and of the RAF, towards the men (and indeed the machine) that made possible the victory in the Falklands. This first-hand account charts, in detail, the naval pilots' journey to the South Atlantic, and how they took on and triumphantly conquered the challenges they faced. It is a dramatic story, leavened with accounts of the air-to-air fighting and of life in a squadron at sea and on a war footing. But it is also a tale of inter-Service rivalry, bureaucratic interference, and the less-than-generous attitudes of a number of senior commanders who should certainly have known better; indeed, some of them might even have lost the war through a lack of understanding of air warfare. The author attempts to put the record straight.

How Strategic Airpower has Changed the World Order

How Strategic Airpower has Changed the World Order PDF Author: Nigel David MacCartan-Ward
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1036106608
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
This work demonstrates how maritime deterrence strategy in a challenging world is critically underpinned by strategic air power at sea and on land. In this book, the history and utility of land- and carrier-based strategic airpower is brought to life by the gallant exploits and photographs of B-17 aircraft “Quittin’ Time” and of its Navigator, “Fred” Julian in the Second World War, and by the unforgiving and unswerving dedication of “Sharkey” Ward and his Sea Harrier team in the Falklands war. The overarching message is that the strategic airpower lessons of the past eight decades underpin the urgent need for the UK government to invest more wisely in its Fleet so that the latter may work effectively in conjunction with the US Navy on the global mission to deter those that would harm us, and to maintain the freedom of passage of all shipping throughout the global commons. The authors show how a maritime deterrence strategy in a challenging world is critically underpinned by strategic air power at sea and on land.

The Fleet Air Arm

The Fleet Air Arm PDF Author: Keith Abnett
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
ISBN: 1398498068
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
This book uncovers many hidden facts and untold stories of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), shedding light on its remarkable history, much of which has not been widely published. It offers a concise yet vivid account of how the Royal Navy’s Air Service (RNAS) evolved over the years, shaped by over a century of political manoeuvring and its long-standing rivalry with the Royal Air Force. Even today, the FAA continues to operate in the shadow of the RAF, as seen in the ongoing developments surrounding the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and the F-35B aircraft they now carry, frequent subjects in the media. Few know that the last serviceman to die in the Second World War was an FAA pilot, shot down over Japan at the very end of the Pacific conflict. While FAA victories such as Taranto and the Falklands are well known, it may surprise readers to learn that the FAA briefly flew Lancasters in 1946. And in the Gulf War, FAA Westland Lynx helicopters made history by virtually wiping out Iraq’s navy using Sea Skua missiles, the first time seaborne helicopters achieved such a feat. This book also features the most comprehensive post-1945 timeline of the FAA, a reflection of the decline of Britain’s maritime power over recent decades. Enriching the narrative are personal anecdotes from FAA personnel, highlighting their bravery, dedication, and sacrifice in the line of duty.

The Evolution of Naval Armament

The Evolution of Naval Armament PDF Author: Frederick Leslie Robertson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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The Big Show

The Big Show PDF Author: PIERRE. CLOSTERMANN
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781909269859
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
'THE BIG SHOW IS AS CLOSE AS YOU'LL EVER GET TO FIGHTING YOUR LIFE FROM THE COCKPIT OF A SPITFIRE OR TYPHOON. PERHAPS MOST VISCERALLY EXCITING BOOK EVER WRITTEN BY A FIGHTER PILOT' Rowland White, Author of Vulcan 607 Pierre Clostermann DFC was one of the oustanding Allied aces of the Second World War. A Frenchman who flew with the RAF, he survived over 420 operational sorties, shooting down scores of enemy aircraft, while friends and comrades lost their lives in the deadly skies above Europe. The Big Show, his extraordinary account of the war has been described as the greatest pilot's memoir of WWII. ' A truly remarkable book ... the most gripping descriptions of aerial combat I have ever read' New York Times 'A thrilling read ... ranks among the finest accounts of war' Guardian 'A magnificent story' Daily Telegraph 'A classic ... gripping, ripping, full of action' Economist 'Vividly captures the spirit of air combat' The Times

Outpost of Empire

Outpost of Empire PDF Author: Mike Vouri
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
The occupation of San Juan Island by the Royal Marines between 1860 and 1872 marked the last time "redcoats" would be stationed in lands south of the 49th parallel. Following the nearly disastrous "Pig War" crisis, their primary mission with their U.S. Army counterparts was keeping the peace on an island considered ripe for the taking by Britons and Americans alike. Drawing on historical, archaeological and photographic research, Outpost of Empire offers an intriguing glimpse of a frontier garrison in the Victorian age. Mike Vouri is the San Juan National Park historian and author of The Pig War.

To the End of the Solar System

To the End of the Solar System PDF Author: James A. Dewar
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781894959681
Category : Nuclear rockets
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The exploration of space could have been decades ahead of where we are now...During a two-decade period; from the 1950s to the 1970s, a nuclear rocket propulsion system was developed capable of performing robotic and human exploration of our solar system. The US government's Rover programme developed the system and succeeded in demonstrating the propulsion capabilities required for deep space exploration missions. The programme was terminated for political reasons in the mid-1970s. You have to wonder - if the nuclear rocket had been used and further developed during the 30 years since then, where could we be today?This comprehensive history details both the technical accomplishments of the nuclear rocket system and the political wrangling that strangled it. Together, NASA and the Atomic Energy Commission carried out the Rover program, and together they had their budgets slashed and were micro-managed by pork-barrel-motivated politicians. And after accomplishing success against the odds, they were shut down. Instead of NERVA, the state-of-the-art nuclear system developed by the Rover program, Congress was sold on the Space Shuttle, outdated before it was launched. Instead of the solar system, we got low-Earth orbit. James A. Dewar has produced a well-researched and well-organised account of what was accomplished, who made the decisions, and why it all was for naught. If NASA and the AEC had been allowed to do the job they had originally been given, today we could have been exploring out 'To the End of the Solar System'.

Pirates of Empire

Pirates of Empire PDF Author: Stefan Eklöf Amirell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108484212
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
This comparative study of piracy and maritime violence provides a fresh understanding of European overseas expansion and colonisation in Asia. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Flying Camelot

Flying Camelot PDF Author: Michael W. Hankins
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 150176067X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Flying Camelot brings us back to the post-Vietnam era, when the US Air Force launched two new, state-of-the art fighter aircraft: the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. It was an era when debates about aircraft superiority went public—and these were not uncontested discussions. Michael W. Hankins delves deep into the fighter pilot culture that gave rise to both designs, showing how a small but vocal group of pilots, engineers, and analysts in the Department of Defense weaponized their own culture to affect technological development and larger political change. The design and advancement of the F-15 and F-16 reflected this group's nostalgic desire to recapture the best of World War I air combat. Known as the "Fighter Mafia," and later growing into the media savvy political powerhouse "Reform Movement," it believed that American weapons systems were too complicated and expensive, and thus vulnerable. The group's leader was Colonel John Boyd, a contentious former fighter pilot heralded as a messianic figure by many in its ranks. He and his group advocated for a shift in focus from the multi-role interceptors the Air Force had designed in the early Cold War towards specialized air-to-air combat dogfighters. Their influence stretched beyond design and into larger politicized debates about US national security, debates that still resonate today. A biography of fighter pilot culture and the nostalgia that drove decision-making, Flying Camelot deftly engages both popular culture and archives to animate the movement that shook the foundations of the Pentagon and Congress.