Air Force: Royal Air Force in the 1990's

Airlife Publishing Ltd. Very Good/Very Good. 1990. Hard Cover. 4to 23.5 x 1.9 x 31.1 Cm 185310101x Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Original cloth boards with bright gilt titling on spine. No ownership marks. Numerous colour photographs.184 pages clean and tight. For four decades, the Royal Air Force has been at the forefront of NATO's European defences, ready to bring its accumulated skills into play in the face of the formidable threat from the East. Now that threat has dissipated virtually overnight, and for the RAF and its allied air forces the present decade is likely to be one of radical change. The momentous events that have taken place in Eastern Europe write finis to the Cold War and the long-standing confrontation between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Yet it would be dangerous to assume that the RAF will never again need to stand ready to counter a major threat. The experience of the Falklands War showed that the RAF, alongside Britain's other Services, might be called upon to engage in unexpected hostilities many thousands of miles from the United Kingdom. The ominous rumblings from the Middle East that have heralded the 1990s may indicate that the European Alliance may one day have to contend with a serious threat to its southern flank. In this work, leading aviation writer Robert Jackson explains in great depth how the Royal Air Force is equipped to meet the challenge - and potential dangers - of the new decade. He details its strengths and weaknesses, and above all emphasizes the continuing necessity for maintaining strong air defences in an unstable and swiftly changing world. Superbly illustrated throughout by photographer Robbie Shaw, this book is an indispensable reference work for students of modern air warfare and the political decisions that have shaped today's Royal Air Force. .