The sovereign status of Taiwan - or the Republic of China - has been a source of instability in the Asia-Pacific region for much of the last 70 years. While Taiwan aspires to be an independent and democratic nation, the communist-led People’s Republic of China sees it as a breakaway province. With Beijing flexing its muscles in recent years amid rising tensions between China and the US, the potential for a military flashpoint along the narrow Taiwan Strait cannot be overstated. The strategy of the Republic of China Armed Forces is to present Beijing with a credible deterrent, and should this fail, defend against a People’s Liberation Army attack and possible invasion. The Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) is charged with the defence of airspace over and around Taiwan and enabling military operations in land and sea domains. If necessary, it could also take the battle into China as part of a multi-pronged offensive effort. While the ROCAF is relatively well-equipped and trained, attempts to modernise have been hit by political and fiscal challenges. The ROCAF has made some headway with mid-life upgrades for the majority of its more than 20-year-old fighter fleet and will receive a much-needed boost with the introduction of F-16C/D Block 70s in the coming years. However, it still lacks many force-multiplier capabilities such as aerial refuelling and electronic warfare. Amid qualitative and quantitative improvements to the PLA air combat fleets, the military balance across the Taiwan Strait continues to tip towards Mainland China. This book provides a comprehensive study of Taiwan’s air force with in-depth analysis backed by high-quality images. It examines ROCAF combat capabilities today, its aircraft fleet, and what the future holds for the air arm.

This is the illustrated diary of Imperial Japanese Navy floatplane pilot Warrant Officer Nemoto Kumesako, dating from the early months of the Pacific War. His recollections offer an intimate perspective into his life, along with insights into Japanese thinking of the times. Unusually, these memoirs are presented in a style consistent with the Japanese manga (illustrated cartoon) format. The curious floatplanes of the time, some of which verge on the steampunk, come to life with the author’s uncanny sense of humour. Nemoto defies every stereotype of the Samurai warrior, for his diary betrays coveted romanticism. Although an exceptional character, he was certainly a man of his times. Not particularly close to his comrades, Nemoto prided himself in his worldly credentials. For example, he read Tolstoy’s War& Peace in German between missions. Nemoto’s writing style, cultivated and matter of fact, is tinged with insight and assurance. He never envisaged it would wind up in the wrong hands, and for this reason the reader will savour its frankness and insights. Michael Claringbould is a globally renown Pacific War author. This is his first attempt at getting away from conventional formats, instead producing an entertaining hybrid tale, garishly illustrated yet historically accurate. Its humorous format is also guaranteed to tell readers many things about this fascinating period they did not know.

This Volume Four of Pacific Adversaries conveys detailed stories of aerial warfare in the Solomons theatre, chosen because both Japanese and Allied records can be matched for an accurate accounting. Often the actual outcomes are very different to the exaggerated claims made by both sides as outlined in most traditional histories. In some cases, this factual approach enables long-standing mysteries to be solved. Further, for each chosen story photographic or other evidence enables accurate depictions of the aircraft involved. Through these chosen snapshots, Pacific Adversaries portrays the South Pacific conflict as accurately as possible. This fourth volume focuses exclusively on confrontations between the Japanese Naval Air Force (JNAF) and Allied air power in the Solomons theatre between 1943 and 1944. Following the bloody 1942 Guadalcanal campaign, the JNAF fought a largely defensive war in the Solomons against gathering Allied forces. Perhaps surprisingly, right through to the end of 1943, the JNAF offered significant resistance to the Allies and never ceded air superiority in the vicinity of its key base of Rabaul. Only in 1944, when units were withdrawn to the Central Pacific and the Philippines, was the JNAF presence in the South Pacific finally wound down to just a token force. Never before have detailed accounts matched up adversaries so closely, and in doing so, shine light on key events in Pacific skies so many years ago.

This book compiles the 4-view color profiles, scale plans, and photo details of the single variant of the Avia S-199. Scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also included are photos of the details in B&W and color.

This book compiles the 4-view color profiles, scale plans, and photo details of the single variant of the J 8A Gloster Gladiator. Scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also included are photos of the details in B&W and color.

This book compiles the 4-view color profiles, scale plans, and photo details of the single variant of the Messerschmitt Bf 108B-2. Scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also included are photos of the details in B&W and color.

Scale plans in 1/32, 1/48, and 1/72 of the Polish RWD-14 aircraft.8 A3 size scale plans of RWD-14 aircraft.

World War I witnessed unprecedented growth and innovation in aircraft design, construction, and as the war progressed - mass production. Each country generated its own innovations sometimes in surprising ways - Albatros Fokker, Pfalz, and Junkers in Germany and Nieuport, Spad, Sopwith and Bristol in France and Britain. This book focuses on the British approach to fighter design, construction, and mass production. Initially the French led the way in Allied fighter development with their Bleriot trainers then nimble Nieuport Scouts - culminating with the powerful, fast gun platforms as exemplified by the Spads. The Spads had a major drawback however, in that they were difficult and counter-intuitive to fix in the field. The British developed fighters in a very different way; Tommy Sopwith had a distinctive approach to fighter design that relied on lightly loaded wings and simple functional box-girder fuselages. His Camel was revolutionary as it combined all the weight well forward; enabling the Camel to turn very quickly - but also making it an unforgiving fighter for the inexperienced. The Royal Aircraft Factory's SE5a represented another leap forward with its comfortable cockpit, modern instrumentation, and inline engine - clearly influenced by both Spads and German aircraft. Each manufacturer and design team vied for the upper hand and deftly and quickly appropriated good ideas from other companies – be they friend or foe. Developments in tactics and deployment also influenced design - from the early reconnaissance planes, to turn fighters, finally planes that relied upon formation tactics, speed, and firepower. Advances were so great that the postwar industry seemed bland by comparison.

In 1942 the air defence of the northern Australian frontier town of Darwin was operated by airmen from the United States.That year was very nearly the end of Australia as a country. To those men the present nation owes a debt. A massive Japanese attack on Darwin on 19 February had left the town and its air base in ruins. An understrength squadron of USAAC P-40E Warhawks fought a gallant defence but was all but wiped out.Northern Australia was now at the mercy of Imperial Japanese Navy Betty bombers and Zero fighters whose crews were both skilled and experienced. However, help was on the way. The 49th Fighter Group was the first such group formed in the US to be sent overseas after the start of the Pacific War. Its destination was Darwin.From modest beginnings on make-shift airstrips, the 49th FG entered combat with its feared Japanese adversaries. Its P-40E Warhawks were poor interceptors but were rugged, reliable and well-armed. Unable to dogfight the highly manoeuvrable Zeros, the American pilots resorted to dive and zoom tactics more suited to their heavier fighters.Over several months the 49th FG pilots fought a brave and innovative campaign against a stronger enemy that did much to safeguard Australia in its darkest hour. Today lonely and long forgotten airfields still bear the name of American pilots who made the ultimate sacrifice.This is their story.

The Pacific Profiles series presents the most accurate WWII aircraft profiles to date of Japanese & Allied aircraft in the Pacific theatre. Volume Three illustrates, by squadron, USAAF Fifth Air Force A-20 series medium bombers operating in New Guinea from July 1942 to the end of 1944. In this distant theatre, a dozen USAAF A-20 squadrons from the 3rd, 312th and 417th Bombardment Groups, joined by No. 22 Squadron, RAAF, used many variants of the A-20, mainly as strafers. Squadron insignia, camouflage, heraldry, nose-art and command markings varied significantly between squadrons, giving a wide variety of colour schemes. The profiles, based on photos, diaries and other wide-ranging documents, are accompanied by brief histories of each squadron, the development of respective heraldry and information on each aircraft profiled. The author, Michael Claringbould, is world-renown for his expertise in respect to the A-20 in the Pacific, stemming from his direct involvement in locating and recovering one from New Guinea in 1984. These rare profiles, many appearing for the first time, accurately portray the A-20 during this captivating timeframe of the South Pacific air war.

Eagle pilot Rick “Kluso” Tollini’s life has embodied childhood dreams and the reality of what the American experience could produce. In his memoir, Call Sign Kluso, Rick puts the fraught minutes above the Iraqi desert that made him an ace into the context of a full life; exploring how he came to be flying a F-15C in Desert Storm, and how that day became a pivotal moment in his life.Rick’s first experience of flying was in a Piper PA-18 over 1960s’ California as a small boy, and his love of flying through his teenage years was fostered by his pilot father, eventually blossoming into a decision to join the Air Force as a pilot in his late twenties. Having trained to fly jets he was assigned to fly the F-15 Eagle with the “Dirty Dozen,” the 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron, at Kadena AB, Japan before returning Stateside to the 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron “The Gorillas.” Throughout training Reagan’s fighter pilots expected to face was the Soviet Union, but Rick’s first combat deployment was Desert Storm. He recounts the planning, the preparation, and the missions, the life of a fighter pilot in a combat zone and the reality of combat. Rick’s aerial victory was one of 16 accumulated by the Gorillas, the most by any squadron during Desert Storm.Returning from the combat skies of Iraq, Rick continued a successful fulfilling Air Force career until, struggling to make sense of his life, he turned to Buddhism. His practice led him to leave the Air Force, to find a new vocation, and to finally come to terms with shooting down that MiG-25 Foxbat in the desert all those years before. Most importantly, he came to a deeper understanding of the importance of our shared humanity.

The Pacific Profiles series presents the most accurate WWII aircraft profiles to date of Japanese & Allied aircraft in the Pacific theatre. Volume Two illustrates, by unit, Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) bomber and other supporting aircraft types operating in New Guinea and the Solomons from December 1942 to April 1944. In this distant theatre many different aircraft types and their variants were assigned to a variety of bomber, reconnaissance, command and transport units which together formed the 4th Air Army. Unit insignia, camouflage and command markings varied considerably from unit to unit, giving a wide variety of colour, heraldry and markings. The profiles, based on photos, Japanese documents, Allied intelligence reports and post-war wreck investigations, are accompanied by brief histories of each relevant unit and explanations of their role in the theatre. The author, Michael Claringbould, is world-renown for his expertise in respect to wartime Japanese aviation. These profiles accurately portray JAAF bombers and support aircraft during this fascinating and esoteric timeframe of the Pacific air war.

Volume Four chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific in the critical period between 19 June and 8 September 1942. It can be read alone or as a continuation of the first three volumes that spanned the first six months of the Pacific War, culminating in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Unlike the previous three volumes, no aircraft carriers appeared in New Guinea waters. Instead, the air war was fought solely by land-based air units. This was in the face of an increasingly complex strategic situation that saw the Japanese land at both Buna and Milne Bay. For the first time, airpower in the theatre was tasked to support the land forces of both sides which became engaged in a bloody struggle in the mountains of Papua and then the narrow muddy quagmire of Milne Bay. Two veteran Japanese air groups, the Tainan and No. 4 Kokutai, continued their Herculean struggle against mounting Allied opposition. In the face of continued attrition, Japanese pilots had many notable successes including several coveted aerial victories against B-17s. Then, from August a plethora of fresh Japanese units arrived in theatre including the No. 2, No. 6, Chitose, Misawa and Kisarazu Kokutai.USAAF P-39s and RAAF P-40Es responded with low level close support missions and B-25s, B-26s and B-17s ramped up an unrelenting bombing campaign. Towards the end of the period A-20A strafers made their combat debut, portending a radical blueprint for future attack tactics in the theatre. Never before has this campaign been chronicled in such detail, with Allied accounts matched against Japanese records for a truly factual account of the conflict.

Ils venaient des six coins de l'Hexagone, de tous les horizons, il y en a même qui venaient de notre Empire colonial éclaté. ils n'avaient pas tous la même culture, ni les mêmes convictions. Caporaux, sous-officiers et officiers, ils étaient de tous grades mais tous, sans exception, se portèrent volontaires. Ils n'étaient pas tous destinés à devenir des amis, et ils le devinrent même s'ils n'avaient pas tous suivi le même chemin, mais ils avaient tous le même but : le rétablissement, dans l'honneur, de la splendeur passée de leur Patrie. Ils nous ont tous quitté aujourd'hui mais ils n'ont jamais failli à leur tâche immense, celle de redorer le blason des Ailes françaises, de ressouder ses ailes fracturées, pour à travers elles, redonner à la France le niveau qui était le sien avant cette funeste année 1940 où elles furent, injustement, jugées responsables de sa défaite. Les Russes leur ont fourni de remarquables outils avec lesquels ils ont façonné le joyau que fut leur unité : le groupe de chasse Normandie devenu, par la volonté des Soviétiques, le Régiment Normandie-Niemen. De nombreux ouvrages ont déjà rapporté leurs exploits, mais ils méritent que leur mémoire soit encore et encore célébrée, et portée comme exemple pour les générations futures pour faire comprendre comment la France pays vaincu, bafoué, martyrisé a pu, grâce à une poignée d'entre eux - 96 exactement - en quatre ans, se rasseoir au banc des grandes nations en montrant au Monde que la France combattait sur tous les fronts. Il suffit parfois de l'ardeur d'une poignée d'hommes au combat pour convaincre et forcer l'admiration de certains - Staline en l'occurrence. C'est le portrait d'une quinzaine d'entre eux qui est brossé dans ces pages ainsi qu'une description abondamment illustrée par des profils couleurs de leurs «montures» : les chasseurs Yakovlev, choisis sans doute parce que leur moteur était une évolution du moteur français Hispano-Suiza 12Y français. L'auteur, ancien président de l'aéro-club de Caen, lui-même organisateur de meetings aériens du Souvenir a très bien connu le général Risso, qui fut directeur des Meetings Nationaux dans les années 70 puis, plus tard, quand il venait en Normandie, de temps en temps pour des commémorations. Il a construit plusieurs saynètes pour le musée des Andelys et a été invité le 20 juin 1999 à la cérémonie suivie du banquet à l'issue duquel le général Risso, en compagnie du Commandant Lorillon, a déclaré que faute d'adhérents, il se voyait contraint de mettre fin à l'association des Anciens du Normandie-Niemen 39-45. Il a déclaré que désormais leur épopée appartenait à l'Histoire. Le général Risso nous a quitté le 24 novembre 2005 et le commandant Lorillon le 17 février 2013. Il restait alors deux survivants des pilotes du Normandie de la Seconde Guerre mondiale : Jean Sauvage et Gaël Taburet. Jean Sauvage est décédé le 22 août 2014 et Gaël Taburet le 10 février 2017. Ce jour-là, avec sa disparition, une page de gloire de l'Armée de l'Air a été tournée. Ces 96 héros appartiennent désormais à l'Histoire. François Robinard a recueilli les souvenirs de cinq d'entre eux, sauvés par l'histoire, principalement ceux du Général Risso. Ils constituent la base de cet ouvrage. They came from across France, from all walks of life and all military ranks, but joined together as volunteers as the French fighter group, Normandy-Niemen after France had fallen to the Nazis. This book provides a portrait of fifteen pilots and is illustrated with colour profiles of their planes, the Soviet “Yak” fighters. Becoming operational in 1943 the squadron were a formidable military unit battling alongside the Soviets on the Eastern Front. The author, former president of the Caen flying club, and an organiser of Memorial airshows, knew pilot General Risso personally. Text in French.

This book is a compilation of the 4-view color profiles, scale plans, and photo details of the single variant of the Henschel Hs 126B-1. Illustrated are plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals. Also included are photos of the details in B&W and color.

Once the East African Campaign was concluded, some of the SAAF Fighter Squadrons, operating in Ethiopia and Sudan, moved north to Egypt to partake in the campaign in Palestine and the Desert War. 1 Squadron operated Hawker Hurricanes, while 2 Squadron operated the American built P-40 Tomahawks. 4 Squadron also transisioned to Egypt and soon joined 2 Squadron, flying the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk. These two units were also joined by 5 Squadron, which had been formed and trained in the Union of South Africa. All three these units would eventually fly different marks of the P-40 Kittyhawk towards the end of the campaign. The ferocity of the aerial campaign over the North African desert and coastal plains can be illustrated by facts such as the numbers of fighter aircraft involved. The three SAAF Squadrons alone operated at least around 275 Tomahawks, that the author had been able to indentify. This was followed by a similar number of Kittyhawk Mk. I and Kittyhawk Mk. II aircraft. The SAAF would also operate more than 160 Kittyhawk Mk. II and Mk. IV fighters in the late stages of this campaign and the follow-up campaign in Italy. The different SAAF squadrons that eventually operated Hurricanes, also operated well in excess of 200 Hurricanes of different models during their time in North Africa. This volume covers the combat history of these fighter squadrons during the campaign, as well as the colors and markings of their aircraft. Primary sources, such as Squadron War Diaries, Pilot Logbooks, Personal Diaries, Aircraft Movement Cards, Medical and Incident Reports, Combat Reports and Supplementary reports, were used in the preparation of the text contained herein. This volume contains 88 pages, 20 full-color plates and 95 b&wphotos, indicating the people and aircraft operated by these squadrons. This volume will be followed by a third volume, tracing the onwards history of these squadrons as well as additional SAAF Fighter Squadrons during the final months of the campaign in North Africa. More volumes will follow, detailing the SAAF Fighter Squadron operations in Malta and the campaign in Sicily, Italy and the Balkans.