SOVIET AIR POWER OF THE COLD WAR

1-236830

Describes and vividly illustrates the Soviet inventory of fighters and bombers as well as trainers, transports, seaplanes, electronic warfare, and ground attack aircraft, as well as an impressive helicopter fleet. In the 1950s, the USSR possessed some 12,000 aircraft. By the 1990s, this had declined to around 8,000, with the reduction largely reflecting the increase in aircraft capability. Includes 200 color illustrations.

Aircraft included: The Tu-4 'Bull' was the first Russian nuclear-capable bomber, a copy of the US B-29, which was followed by their range of jet bombers, the Il-28 'Beagle,' Tu-16 'Badger,' and M-4 'Bison.' The prop driven Tu-20 'Bear' and its successors the Tu-22 'Backfire' and finally the Tu-160 'Backfire' were all formidable.

The jet-engined MiG-15 fighter entered service in 1948 and proved itself during the Korean War. The MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21 followed along with ground-attack aircraft the Su-7 'Fitter' and M-23 'Flogger.' The 1970s saw the MiG-25 'Foxbat' interceptor, followed by the MiG-29 'Fulcrum' and Su-27 'Flanker.'