Rolando Ugolini – illustratör

This volume details the technical features and operational performance of the Soviet Su-25 'Frogfoot', which proved itself as a durable and versatile attack aircraft in a variety of theatres such as Afghanistan, Georgia and Ossetia.Today it is widely accepted as the true successor to the types of specialised ground-attack aircraft that emerged during World War II. This book illuminates the service history of the 'Frogfoot' in over 30 years of combat using first-hand accounts and revealing archive photographs. The awkward-looking Su-25 has often been underrated, but the faithful 'Frogfoot' is now slated to remain in service with most of its current operators across the globe into the future.This study explores the successes of the 'Frogfoot' in full, demonstrating its strengths as a formidably armed, armoured and very agile attack aircraft.

This richly-illustrated title covers the technical characteristics of the F-104 Starfighter, one of the most widely-used and popular aircraft in history.Although built in small numbers for the USAF, the F-104C fought and survived for almost three years in Vietnam. There, it was engaged in some of the war's most famous battles including the legendary operation Bolo, where seven North Vietnamese MiGs were destroyed without the loss of a single US fighter. This small, tough and very fast fighter, dubbed 'The Missile with a Man in It', was called upon to do things it was not specifically designed for, and did them admirably.Aside from its protracted use in Vietnam with the USAF, the F-104 also saw limited action with the Pakistani air force during the Indo-Pakistan wars in the 1960s and early 1970s, and with the Taiwanese air force in clashes with communist Chinese MiG-19s.Featuring illustrations and photographs detailing the variety of nose-paint schemes and weapons configurations, this comprehensive appraisal of the F-104 Starfighter is ideal for modelling and aviation enthusiasts alike.

F-111s based in England flew the longest fighter combat mission in history against the Libyan capital Tripoli in 1986, and in 1991 the aircraft was one of the most important Coalition warplanes in the successful Desert Storm campaign.The General Dynamics F-111 was one of the most technically innovative designs among military aircraft, introducing the variable-sweep wing, terrain-following radar, military-rated afterburning turbofan engines and a self-contained escape module among other features. Designed as a cost-saving, multi-role interceptor, naval fighter and strike bomber, its evolution prioritised the latter role and it became the USAF’s most effective long-range strike aircraft during three decades of service.Rushed into combat in Vietnam before some of its structural issues were fully understood, the type suffered several early losses and gained an unfairly negative reputation that dogged it for the rest of its career, and restricted funding for more advanced versions of the design, Peter E Davis argues. However, in Operation Linebacker in 1972 the F-111 flew 4000 nocturnal under-the-radar missions, delivering, with unprecedented accuracy, many decisive blows that would have resulted in heavy losses for any other attack aircraft.Featuring illustrations throughout, this volume is ideal for fans of later twentieth-century combat aviation.