Arab MiGs. Volume 4: Attrition War, 1967-1973

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About Arab MiGs. Volume 4: Attrition War, 1967-1973

Product Description Volume 4 in Harpia Publishing's highly successful Arab MiGs series expands the history of the major Arab air forces that became involved in the wars with Israel during the period 1967 to 1973. It solves the intractable complexity of this violent period by dispassionately outlining the sequence of political and military events — in chronological and geographic order. The reader is systematically taken through Egyptian attempts to reconstruct its battered air force and expand its air defense capabilities, and then reestablish control of its airspace in spite of increasing and ever more aggressive Israeli attacks. The military support Israel received from the United States not only resulted in both sides developing, testing and employing ever more advanced methods of air warfare, but eventually provoked a Soviet military intervention, which marked the culmination of the period better known as the War of Attrition. The narrative continues with dramatic descriptions of the developments in Jordan, which culminated in a civil war in 1970, and with an exclusive insight into the previously unknown expansion of the Syrian air arm with extensive support from Czechoslovakia, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The content is concluded with lesser known military events in Algeria, Morocco, Iraq and Libya, where a series of military coups resulted in developments that were to become critical not only for the future of the local air forces, but also well beyond the borders of those countries. Review “Particularly noteworthy, Tom Cooper's superb color profiles and hundreds of photos offer modelers plenty of project inspiration. And contributor Martin Smisek's revelations – from "Operation 104" through post-1967 reconstruction efforts – illumine the considerable, continuous cooperation between Czechoslovakia and Syria.Over 200 B&W and color photos, tables, sidebars, maps and absorbing anecdotes further flavor the narrative…– wow – what a riveting read! This set keeps getting better and better. I've said it before: Harpia's superb series deserves place in every enthusiast's library. Get all four terrific tomes. I'm licking my eyebrows for Volume 5! Rabidly recommended! Cybermodeler "The authors have done a superlative job of researching this volume. They have talked to those who fought in the war, have poured over available documents in all the nations involved, and were able to piece together a very interesting picture of what occurred nearly fifty years ago. Any and all conclusions drawn are based on the facts they were able to obtain and where the information is not clear, it is presented as such. It covers not only the main Arab nations, but also the events in Libya, Morrocco and Lebanon. I particularly found the section on Egypt's involvement in Yemen to be of interest as so little has ever been written about this, and the involvement of Saudi Arabia in the events of the time is also interesting. Few realize that the Soviet Union sent an entire squadron to Egypt to help in their air defense as well as provided other resources such as long range reconnaissance, air/sea services and some modern bomber types, though few of these were every involved directly in combat. The book also busts the myth of the Nesher being the result of Israeli intelligence obtaining plans for the plane and building it themselves. At the time, the Israeli aircraft industry was quite incapable of building a plane from scratch as they did not have the equipment nor the expertise. Despite the French government putting an 'embargo' on shipments to Israel, the Mirage 5Js that Israel paid for were clandestinely shipped to Israel by Dassault and assembled with the help of French and US personnel. There is more to it than that, but I'll leave that for you to read yourself when you get the book. The book is not a quick read, but it is one that I highly recommend to those interested in the topic and with open minds. There are a lot of great photo