SEA HARRIER AND AV – 88
Prix régulier 15,00 € TTC 6%
Characteristics
Book cover finish | Hardcover ( rounded spine binding ) |
Special features | Dust jacket |
Condition | Used good |
Language | English |
Number of pages | 160 |
Published date | 1989 |
Collection / Series | Combat Aircraft |
Author | Robert Jackson |
Editor | Blandford Press |
Description
This book is concerned with the naval variants of the Harrier – the Sea Harrier, the AV-8 and AV-16 and the matador. It provides fascinating insights into how the increasingly complex demands of warfare can be met by the application of sophisticated technology and how basic concepts can be extended and developed to fulfil a wide spectrum of roles.
The first attempt by the Royal Navy to get a V/STOL fighter – the supersonic P.1154RN – was dashed by soaring costs and political interference in 1964. Over the next few years, more considered thought and planning produced the Sea Harrier/’through the deck’s cruiser weapon system programme, a radically new approach to naval air power. It is the thought behind this concept, its evolution into a practical, highly effective naval weapon, and its operation and success that this book appraises.
The Sea Harrier FRS.1 together with the ‘Invincible’ class light carriers have been proven efficient and lethal in combat – the touchstone of a weapon – in the Falklands conflict. The basic Harrier/Sea Harrier configuration has been developed into the British Sea Harrier FRS.2, the US AV-8B and the Spanish Matador, and further, extensive development is programmed, along with several small-ship operational concepts, exemplifying the maxim that a truly successful weapon has the capacity to be developed beyond its initial role to meet the evolving demands of warfare.
This is a fascinating account of one of the world’s dominant warplanes that takes the reader from the drawing board of Sir Sydney Camm, down the Kingston and St. Louis production lines, and into the cockpit in combat over the wintry wastes of the South Atlantic. The book is illustrated by 160 halftone photographs and 1/72nd scale line drawings of all the naval Harrier family and armament variations. It is a book that will give the aviation enthusiast and student a mature insight into this immensely flexible aircraft family.