Osprey Combat Aircraft Series SC (1997-2011 OSPREY) comic books 2001

Volume 22 - 1st printing. " Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko 'Betty' Units of World War 2!" Written by Osamu Tagaya. Art by Mark Styling. The most produced Japanese bomber of the war the G4M saw action on every front from the first day of the Pacific conflict through to VJ-Day. The 'Betty's' very long range made it a key weapon during the opening year of the war. However, to achieve this, the aircraft was built with very little protective armour for its crew or fuel tanks, and Allied pilots soon exposed its extreme vulnerability. In the first in a series of volumes examining the key Japanese aircraft of WW2, Dr Osamu Tagaya details the G4M's extensive combat history, and lists all the units which operated the bomber. Softcover, 112 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 23 - 1st printing. " Arab-Israeli Air Wars 1947-82!" Written by Shlomo Aloni. Art by Mark Rolfe. When the UN called for the end of the British mandate and the partition of Palestine into two independent states, the RAF found itself under attack from both sides. Tracing the development of hostilities in the Middle East, this book covers the period from the establishment of the first proper Israeli Air Force in 1948 to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Israel's War of Independence against its Arab neighbours, the inevitable 'round two', the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Six Day War of 1967, the Yom Kippur wars of 1973 and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 are all detailed in this fascinating chronicle of war in the Middle East. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 24 - 1st printing. " Conflict in the Balkans 1991-2000!" Written by Tim Ripley. Art by Mark Rolfe. Exposing the true scale and significance of the deployment of air power in the Balkans, this book details the activities of NATO and UN aircraft as well as local pilots in the former Yugoslavia. From bombing by B-2 stealth bombers to air-to-air combat; from moving ground troops by helicopter to 'food-bombing' for refugees, air power has played a vital role in 'Europe's Vietnam', and there is little sign that the fires of conflict are being extinguished. Debate amongst air power practitioners has yielded little agreement as to the degree of damage inflicted on the Yugoslav 3rd Army in Kosovo, the Balkans continue to be a region of conflict and ethnic hatred. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 25 - 1st printing. " MiG-17 and MiG-19 Units of the Vietnam War!" Written by István Toperczer. Art by Iain Wyllie. The erstwhile enemy of the USAF and US Navy during the nine years of American involvement in the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese Peoples' Air Force (VPAF) quickly grew from an ill-organised rabble of poorly trained pilots flying antiquated communist aircraft into a highly effective fighting force that more than held its own over the skies of North Vietnam. Flying Soviet fighters like the MiG-17, and -19, the VPAF produced over a dozen aces, whilst the Americans managed just two pilots and three navigators in the same period. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Add to cart Near Mint $9.00

Add to cart Near Mint $9.00

Volume 26 - 1st printing. " US Navy F-4 Phantom II MiG Killers 1965-70!" Written by Brad Elward. Art by Jim Laurier. For every American fighter pilot involved in the Vietnam War, the ultimate goal was to 'kill a MiG'. In eight years of conflict 43 Vietnamese Peoples Air Force aircraft were claimed by US Navy and US Marine Corps Phantom II crews, and one single ace crew produced. Navy Phantom IIs scored the first kills of the Vietnam War, in April 1965, as well as scoring the last in January 1973. This volume charts the successes of the navy fighter crews as they encountered 'MiGs, Missiles and AAA' over the jungles of North Vietnam. Softcover, 96 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 27 - 1st printing. " Air War in the Gulf 1991!" Written by Chris Chant. Art by Mark Rolfe. In August 1990 Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces invaded and occupied the small Arab state of Kuwait. This book analyses the ensuing Gulf War (16 January - 28 February 1991) - a war fought to expel Iraq and restore Kuwaiti independence if not, as one British MP tartly observed, to defend democracy. The allies under General Schwarzkopf launched five weeks of air attacks, deploying 1,800 technologically highly advanced aircraft from the US, British, French and Saudi air forces. Many of these machines, including the British Tornadoes and US F-117A Stealth fighters, had never before engaged in combat, and their combined assault, watched by millions on TV, combined impressive accuracy with firepower to which the Iraqi forces had no answer. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 28 - 1st printing. " Air War in the Falklands 1982!" Written by Chris Chant. Art by Mark Rolfe. The war fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982, for the possession of the Falkland Islands was probably the last 'colonial' war that will ever be undertaken by the British. This book shows how the key to British success was the speed with which the British gained and then maintained air superiority over the islands and the waters around then with their small force of Sea Harrier STOVL warplanes, which operated from two aircraft carriers. Though subsonic, the Sea Harrier and its Sidewinder AAM were a combination altogether superior to Argentina's mix of supersonic and subsonic warplanes with older weapons, and this advantage was emphasised by the significantly greater tactical acuity of the British pilots. The Argentine pilots fought with considerable piloting skill and enormous courage, and scored a number of stunning successes against British warships, but ultimately they could not prevent the British landing and the following land campaign that resulted in complete Argentine defeat. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.

Volume 29 - 1st printing. " MiG-21 Units of the Vietnam War!" Written by István Toperczer. Art by Mark Styling. Having honed their piloting skills on the subsonic MiG-17 and transonic MiG-19, the Vietnamese Peoples' Air Force (VPAF) received their first examples of the legendary MiG-21 supersonic fighter in 1966. Soon thrown into combat over North Vietnam, the guided-missile equipped MiG-21 proved a deadly opponent for the USAF, Navy and Marine Corps crews striking at targets deep into communist territory. Most of the VPAF's 12+ aces scored their bulk of their kills in the MiG-21, which was then the best fighter produced by Russia's premier fast jet manufacturer, Mikoyan Gurevich. Well over 200 MiG-21s were supplied to the VPAF, and the numerous models and the schemes they wore are chronicled in great detail in this unique volume. Softcover, 98 pages, PC/PB&W. Cover price $22.95.