Böcker i Duel-serien

Drawing upon personal testimonies from veterans, official reports, and never-before published photographs, this superbly detailed title explores the duels between the USMC M4A2 and the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go, which often proved to be epic and unique.The different national tank doctrines of the United States and Imperial Japan resulted in a terrible mismatch of the predominant tank types in the crucial Central Pacific campaign. A flawed Japanese doctrine emphasized light infantry support tanks, often used in small numbers. Tactically, tanks were often frittered away in armored versions of the familiar banzai attacks. Meanwhile, the Americans saw the tank as an infantry support weapon, but developed a more systematic tactical doctrine. They settled upon a larger medium tank--in the case of most Marine Corps tank battalions, the diesel-powered M4A2 (unwanted by the US Army).This superbly detailed title reveals how both the two sides'' tactical and technical differences in the approach to armored warfare soon became apparent over a series of deadly engagements, from the first tank fight at the battle of Tarawa in November 1943, through to engagements on Parry Island, Saipan, and Guam, before ending with Peleliu in September 1944.

At the outbreak of World War II, the four key Capital German ships comprised the Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Their primary threats where the Royal Navy's King George V­class battleships, the most modern British battleships in commission during World War II and some of the Navy's most powerful vessels. Five ships of this class were built: HMS King George V, Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Howe (late 1942) and Anson (late 1942). The powerful vessels in this class would clash with the pride of the Kriegsmarine in two major engagements: first, during the Battle of the Denmark Strait and subsequent pursuit of the Bismarck between 24 and 27 May 1941, and again at the Battle of the North Cape on 26 December 1943. Alongside the King George V class, the Royal Navy's two-­ship Nelson-­class (Nelson and Rodney), comprised Britain's only other battleships built in the interwar years. Both ships served extensively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian oceans during the war, but their moment of fame came when Rodney (together with King George V) chased down and bombarded the doomed Bismarck in May 1941. This superbly detailed addition to the Duel series compares and contrasts the design and development of these opposing capital ships, and describes the epic clashes on the high seas that ended with the destruction of the Kriegsmarine's major naval assets.

Between 1550-1600, Europe witnessed a rapid evolution in the art of ship design which enabled safer and more efficient transatlantic travel. This was the pinnacle of the Age of Discovery and Exploration for the European powers, in which the galleon played a crucial role. Galleons were both the main vessels in maritime commerce and the principal warships used by the opposing fleets throughout the Age of Exploration. This period also saw a large amount of naval combat, much of it between individual ships belonging to the competing powers of England and Spain as they sought to control and exploit the rich mineral, material, agricultural and human resources of the New World. The conflict between the English Sea Dogs and the Spanish Adventurers has been a source of fascination for over four centuries. This exciting addition to the Duel series explores how the galleons used by Spain and England were built and armed, and examines the effectiveness of the cannon they used. It also compares how they were sailed and manoeuvred, showing the strengths and weaknesses of each design, and explaining how these played out in several of their most prominent battles, including the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa, the fight between the Golden Hind and the Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, an action from the Spanish Armada, and the last fight of the Revenge.

An exploration and analysis of the tactics, equipment, and effectiveness of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the US Navy''s primary strike weapon during the war in Vietnam, and its main adversary--North Vietnam''s antiaircraft artillery network. While the F­105 Thunderchief was the USAF''s principal strike weapon during the Rolling Thunder campaign, the US Navy relied on the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk for the majority of its strikes on North Vietnam. First flown in 1954, the Skyhawk entered service in 1956 and remained in continuous production for 26 years. Throughout Operation Rolling Thunder it was the US Navy''s principal day­time light strike bomber, remaining in use after its replacement, the more sophisticated A-7 Corsair II, began to appear in December 1967. During the 1965--68 Rolling Thunder period, up to five attack carriers regularly launched A-4 strike formations against North Vietnam. These formations faced an ever-expanding and increasingly coordinated Soviet-style network of antiaircraft artillery missiles and fighters. Skyhawk pilots were often given the hazardous task of attacking anti-aircraft defenses and to improve accuracy, they initially dropped ordnance below 3000 ft in a 30-degree dive in order to bomb visually below the persistent low cloud over North Vietnam, putting the aircraft within range of small-arms fire. This illustrated title examines both the A-4 Skyhawk and the Vietnamese AAA defenses in context, exploring their history and analyzing their tactics and effectiveness during the conflict.

This illustrated and detailed volume covers the capabilities and actions of two of the most compelling naval forces in history--the Imperial Japanese Navy''s carriers and their incomparably trained aviators, and the US ships which defended against them. The striking power of the Imperial Japanese Navy''s carrier-based attack aircraft was established at Pearl Harbor, and the IJN''s carrier-based torpedo­ and dive-bombers showed their prowess again at the Battle of Coral Sea when they sank the US Navy carrier USS Lexington and damaged the carrier USS Yorktown. Even at the disastrous Battle of Midway, the relatively small number of IJNAF attack- and torpedo-bombers that were launched against the US fleet proved that they remained a potent force by heavily damaging Yorktown again, which allowed an IJN submarine to sink the carrier. At Guadalcanal, IJNAF carrier-based aircraft sank the carrier USS Hornet and badly damaged USS Enterprise twice. However, throughout 1942, US Navy ship defenses brought down an increasing number of attacking IJNAF aircraft. The final major battle of the year, the Battle of Santa Cruz, exacted crippling losses on the IJN, setting the stage for the eclipse of the IJNAF''s highly trained and effective aviation attack forces.Packed with illustrations and contemporary photographs, this engrossing volume details the design, tactics, and operational records of both the US Navy ships and the IJNAF aircraft which attacked them over the year following Pearl Harbor.

Although New Guinea's Thunderbolt pilots faced several different types of enemy aircraft in capricious tropical conditions, by far their most common adversary was the Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa, codenamed 'Oscar' by the Allies. These two opposing fighters were the products of two radically different design philosophies. The Thunderbolt was heavy, fast and packed a massive punch thanks to its battery of eight 0.50-cal machine guns, while the 'Oscar' was the complete opposite in respect to fighter design philosophy - lightweight, nimble, manoeuvrable and lightly armed. It was, nonetheless, deadly in the hands of an experienced pilot. The Thunderbolt commenced operations in New Guinea with a series of bomber escort missions in mid-1943, and its firepower and superior speed soon saw Fifth Air Force fighter command deploying elite groups of P-47s to Wewak, on the northern coast. Flying from there, they would pick off unwary enemy aircraft during dedicated fighter patrols. The Thunderbolt pilots in New Guinea slowly wore down their Japanese counterparts by continual combat and deadly strafing attacks, but nevertheless, the Ki-43-II remained a worthy opponent deterrent up until Hollandia was abandoned by the IJAAF in April 1944.Fully illustrated throughout with artwork and rare photographs, this fascinating book examines these two vastly different fighters in the New Guinea theatre, and assesses the unique geographic conditions that shaped their deployment and effectiveness.

The P-40E Warhawk is often viewed as one of the less successful American fighter designs of World War II, but in 1942 the aircraft was all that was available to the USAAC in-theatre. Units equipped with the aircraft were duly forced into combat against the deadly A6M2 Zero-sen, which had already earned itself a near-mythical reputation following its exploits over China and Pearl Harbor. During an eight-month period in 1942, an extended air campaign was fought out between the two fighters for air superiority over the Javanese and then northern Australian skies. During this time, the P-40Es and the Zero-sens regularly clashed without interference from other fighter types. In respect to losses, the Japanese 'won' these engagements, for many more P-40Es were shot down than Zero-sens. However, the American Warhawks provided a potent deterrent that forced the IJNAF to attack from high altitudes, where crews' bombing efficiency was much poorer.Fully illustrated throughout, and supported by rare and previously unpublished photographs, this book draws on both American and Japanese sources to tell the full story of the clashes between these iconic two fighters in Darwin and the East Indies.

During the struggle for the Mediterranean in World War II, British and Italian battleships entered combat on three occasions in 1940 and 1941. In this fully illustrated account of these battles, historian Mark Stille assesses the technology, crews, doctrine, and combat record of the capital ships that took part. During World War II''s battle for control of the Mediterranean, both the British and Italian navies planned to bring their battle fleets into play. At the center of both of these fleets was a core of battleships which both sides expected to play a decisive role in the conflict.On July 9, 1940, the two navies met in the central Mediterranean, as two Italian battleships faced off against three of their British counterparts. Christened the Battle of Calabria, the action allowed the ships to play to their strengths, engaging in a long-range gunnery duel, the very thing they had been designed for. Though both sides shot well, the only hit was scored by Warspite on the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare. The Italians were forced to withdraw, and the action ended up being indecisive, but it was the largest fleet action fought in the Mediterranean during the war. As well as this battle, there were other occasions during the war when both British and Italian battleships were present and influential, but during which they never engaged each other directly--the Battle of Spartivento on November 27, 1940, and the Battle of Cape Matapan on March 28--29, 1941. Packed with full-color artwork, carefully selected archive photographs, and expert analysis, this title explores in detail the role played by British and Italian battleships in these encounters and their influence in the Mediterranean theater of World War II.

Since the end of World War II, the strategic bombing of Germany has inspired numerous studies, countless books and several documentary films, and it is not surprising. With more than one million tons of bombs dropped, close to 300,000 civilians killed, 700,000 wounded and in excess of 3,500,000 industrial and residential structures destroyed, the Allied bomber offensive was industrial war on a grand scale. The air battle that raged over Germany has often been described as a battle between Allied and German fighters but what has been frequently missed by historians on all sides is the impact of German anti-aircraft defences (flak). Though often dismissed as ineffective and a waste of valuable material and personnel, the German flak arm made a major contribution to the defence of the Third Reich - at least half of the American aircraft shot down over Germany fell to flak, and according to the RAF Official History, it was estimated that flak accounted for 1229 of 3302 aircraft lost by Bomber Command between 1942 and April 1945. Additionally, the strategic role of flak extended beyond simply shooting down aircraft - its other, more important task was to force bombers to drop their ordnance sooner or from a higher altitude, thus reducing bombing accuracy. Both these roles are explored in depth in this detailed study of the German flak defences and of their adversaries, the Allied heavy bombers. Containing full-colour illustrations including cockpit scenes and armament views, this is the definitive guide to the much-overlooked conflict between Allied planes and German anti-aircraft defences.

In the summer of 1944, across the battlefields of Normandy, US tanks were confronted with a dangerous challenge: the mobile and deadly Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck anti-tank weapons wielded by the German infantry. Having only occasionally encountered such weaponry before, the US tankers were ill-equipped to defend against this kind of attack, and the threat only increased as the summer wore on. This Duel title follows the technological battle for dominance that ensued, as the US Army devised new ways to defend against the threat posed by the German shaped-charge projectiles. From the addition of sandbags and spare tracks to individual tanks made by anxious crews on the ground to the large-scale programmes put together by the US armies, the book explores the implementation and effectiveness of the various tactics employed by the tank crews, as well as the technology behind the anti-tank weapons wielded by their German adversaries. Drawing on first-hand accounts from the men on the ground, this illustrated title examines the evolving trial of strength between US armour and innovative German anti-tank weaponry in the climactic months of World War II in Europe.

A fully illustrated study into the fighting between the Tempest V and Fw 190D-9, two aircraft that represented the cutting edge and pinnacle of British and German piston-engined aircraft in the late years of World War II.Arguably two of the finest piston-engined fighters ever built, the Tempest V and Fw 190D-9 raised the bar in terms of aircraft design and operational capability during World War II. The long-nosed ΓÇ£Dora 9," designed by Kurt Tank, first appeared in the skies over the Western and Eastern Fronts in the late summer of 1944. Fast, and with an exceptional rate of climb, it quickly bettered almost every fighter that the RAF, USAAF and Soviet Red Air Force could field. The Hawker Tempest V entered service in early 1944, initially proving itself a stalwart performer when it was deployed to intercept V1 flying bombs over southern England. From the autumn of 1944, the Tempest V also equipped squadrons of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, operating in support of the Allied armies advancing across northwest Europe. It became a potent ground-attack aircraft, armed with underwing rockets, but also a first-class interceptor when pitted against the Luftwaffe''s advanced Fw 190D-9 and Me 262.Featuring full color artwork, this book describes in fascinating detail combats between the Tempest Vs of No 274 Sqn, and the Fw 190D-9s of I. and III./JG 26 between February and April 1945.

The F-105D Thunderchief was originally designed as a low-altitude nuclear strike aircraft, but the outbreak of the Vietnam War led to it being used instead as the USAF's primary conventional striker against the exceptionally well-defended targets in North Vietnam and Laos. F-105 crews conducted long-distance missions from bases in Thailand, refuelling in flight several times and carrying heavy external bombloads.The MiG-17 was the lightweight, highly manoeuvrable defending fighter it encountered most often in 1965-68 during Operation Rolling Thunder. A development of the MiG-15, which shocked UN forces during the Korean War, its emphasis was on simplicity and ease of maintenance in potentially primitive conditions.Fully illustrated with stunning artwork, this book shows how these two aircraft, totally different in design and purpose, fought in a series of duels that cost both sides dearly.

During the later stages of the Vietnam War, the US-made M41 Walker Bulldog light tank fought the Soviet-designed T-54 main battle tank in a series of battles in Laos and Vietnam. Fully illustrated, this engaging study investigates the origins, combat record, and legacy of these two armored fighting vehicles.Illustrated with full-color artwork as well as rare and revealing photographs from both sides, this book studies these two iconic tanks in Vietnamese service, examining how their differing designs and fighting doctrines affected their performance in this unique theater of combat.During the Vietnam War, both the United States and the Soviet Union supplied all manner of weapon systems to the opposing sides, including tanks and armored vehicles. Two tanks in particular took momentary prominence in the later years of the conflict. On the South Vietnamese side, it was the US M41 Walker Bulldog; for the communist North Vietnamese, the Soviet-supplied T-54 main battle tank was the core of their armored power. In their first major engagement, during Operation Lam Son 719 (FebruaryΓÇôMarch 1971), it was the Walker Bulldog in the ascendant, but in later battles the T-54s inflicted heavy losses on their lighter opponents, taking the advantage through their superior maneuverability and gunnery.

Written by a noted authority, this fully illustrated book pits the StuG III assault gun in Finnish hands against the Soviet T-34-85 tank in the bitter armored clashes in Finland at the height of World War II.Featuring specially commissioned artwork and an array of archive photographs, T-34 vs StuG III is the absorbing story of the parts played by Soviet and Finnish armor in the epic battles in Finland during June and July 1944.In the summer of 1944, the Red Army staged a massive armored assault up the Karelian Isthmus with the intent of eliminating any remaining German and Finnish forces facing the Leningrad region. Most of the Soviet units sent into Finland were new to the region, moving mainly from the fighting in the Leningrad area. As a result, they had the latest types of Soviet equipment including the new T-34-85 tank. Germany refused to sell the Finns new tanks without a reinforced military alliance, but in 1943 began selling them a few dozen StuG III assault guns. This made the StuG III battalion the most modern and powerful element of the Finnish armored division, and it saw very extensive combat in the JuneΓÇôJuly summer battles.

The little-known yet fascinating story of when two of the most iconic aircraft of World War II dueled in the skies above Australia.Fully illustrated with detailed full-color artwork, this is the gripping story of two iconic aircraft facing off against each other above Australia.Just weeks after Pearl Harbor, Darwin was mauled by a massive Japanese attack. Without a single fighter to defend Australian soil, the Australian government made a special appeal to Britain for Spitfires. A year later the Spitfire VC-equipped No 1 Fighter Wing, RAAF, faced the battle-hardened 202nd Kokutai of the IJNAF, equipped with A6M2 Zero-sens, over Darwin. This was a grueling campaign between evenly matched foes, fought in isolation from the main South Pacific battlegrounds. Pilots on either side had significant combat experience, including a number of Battle of Britain veterans. The Spitfire had superior flight characteristics but was hampered by short range and material defects in the tropical conditions, while the Japanese employed better tactics and combat doctrine inflicting serious losses on overconfident the Commonwealth forces.

By the early months of 1944 in the Pacific, the US Navy''s burgeoning force of carrier-based F6F-3/5 Hellcats had pretty much wiped the skies clear of Japanese fighters during a series of one-sided aerial engagements. However, starting in October they faced the superb Kawanishi N1K1/2 Shiden/Shiden-Kai, a formidable fighter with improved armament, a powerful engine, and excellent maneuvrability that in contrast to earlier Japanese fighters had the ability to withstand a greater degree of battle damage.Japanese pilots using this aircraft would claim more than 170 aerial victories over Kyushu and whilst escorting Kamikazes attacking Allied ships off Okinawa. US Navy Hellcat pilots in turn were credited with many of the scores of Shiden-Kais that were downed attempting to defend Japan. This fully illustrated book compares these two fascinating aircraft, using specially commissioned artwork, first-hand accounts, and a thorough technical analysis.

Ever since its introduction in the late 1950s, the B-52 Stratofortress has been the United States'' primary heavy bomber and a powerful symbol of its immense military might. Its powerful electronic countermeasures equipment (ECM) was thought to make the B-52 immune to ground-to-air missile attack, but in Vietnam, and later conflicts such as Operation Desert Storm in 1991, it came up against the Soviet-designed SA-2 SAM which used heavy salvos of missiles to bring down the bombers.The losses of several of its most feared, powerful, and supposedly invincible bombers per night to a torrent of Soviet missiles during the closing stages of the Vietnam War was sobering to Americans, but the B-52s'' crushing attacks virtually eliminated North Vietnam''s defenses and forced a peace settlement. This fascinating book analyzes the roles of the SA-2 operators and the B-52 Electronic Warfare Officers (EWOs) using specially commissioned artwork as well as first-hand accounts, and traces the cat-and-mouse tactics that each side employed.

Fully illustrated with stunning artwork, Chinese Ironclad Battleship vs Japanese Protected Cruiser is the engrossing story of the Yalu River campaign, where Chinese and Japanese warships fought for control of Korea.The 1894ΓÇô95 war between China and Japan, known in the West as the First Sino-Japanese War, lasted only nine months, but its impact resonates today. The Chinese Beiyang (Northern) Fleet was led by her flagship, Dingyuan, and her sister ship, Zhenyuan, which were the biggest in Asia; German-built armored turret ships, they were armed with four 12in guns and two 6in guns, plus six smaller guns and three torpedo tubes. For their part the Japanese fleet, including the Matsushima and her sister ships Itsukushima and Hashidate, were each armed with a single 12.6in Canet gun and 11 or 12 4.7in guns, plus smaller guns and four torpedo tubes. The scene was set for a bloody confrontation that would stun the world and transform the relationship between China and Japan.

The opening months of World War II saw Britain''s Royal Navy facing a resurgent German navy, the Kriegsmarine. Following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway in early April 1940, British and German destroyers would clash in a series of battles for control of the Norwegian coast. The operational environment was especially challenging, with destroyer crews having to contend with variable weather, narrow coastal tracts, and possibility of fog and ship breakdowns.In two engagements at Narvik, the Royal Navy entered the harbor and attacked the loitering German destroyers who had dropped off mountain troops to support the German invasion. The raids were devastating, halving at a stroke the number at Hitler''s disposal. Employing specially commissioned artwork and drawing upon a range of sources, this absorbing study traces the evolving technology and tactics employed by the British and German destroyer forces.

After the huge advances made in the early months of the Pacific war, it was in remote New Guinea where the advance of Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force (IJNAF) A6M Zero-sen fighters was first halted due to a series of offensive and defensive aerial battles ranging from treetop height up to 30,000 feet. Initially, the IJNAF fought Australian Kittyhawks, but by May 1942 the latter had fought themselves into oblivion, and were relieved by USAAF P-39 and P-400 Airacobras. The battles unfolded over mountainous terrain with treacherous tropical weather. Neither IJNAF or USAAF pilots had been trained for such extreme conditions, incurring many additional losses aside from those that fell in combat. Using specially commissioned artwork, contemporary photographs, and testimony, this fascinating study explains how, despite their initial deficit in experience and equipment, the Airacobras managed to square the ledger and defend New Guinea.

By 1944, the evolution of armored doctrine had produced very different outcomes in Britain and Germany. Offering a good balance of speed, protection, and firepower, the British Cromwell tank was much faster than its German opponent. However, the Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer had a high-velocity main gun and a lower profile that made it formidable on the defensive, especially in ambush situations. The two types would fight in a series of bloody encounters, from the initial days of the struggle for Normandy through its climax as the Allies sought to trap their opponents in the Falaise Pocket. Using archive photographs, specially commissioned artwork, and battle reports, this fascinating study expertly assesses the realities of tactical armored combat during the desperate battles after D-Day.

When Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin's rigid airship LZ 1 flew over Lake Constance in 1900, it was the most advanced and impressive flying machine in the world: a colossal, lighter-than-air craft capable of controlled flight. In World War I, Zeppelins were first used in a reconnaissance role, but on January 19, 1915 Kaiser Wilhelm II authorized their use in bombing strategic targets in England. From then on, "Zeppelin" became synonymous with terror to the British, and indeed the airship's effectiveness was more psychological than material. Still, their raids compelled the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service to embark on a program of modernizing their aerial defenses, accelerating a process that would ultimately make the airplane, rather than the airship, the paramount flying machine of the war. Using specially commissioned artwork, contemporary photographs, and first-hand accounts, this book tells the fascinating story of Britain's first Blitz, from the airships who terrorized the public to the men who sought to defend the skies.

The tank battles in the Soviet Union during the summer of 1941 were the largest in World War II, exceeding even the more famous Prokhorovka encounter during the Kursk campaign. Indeed, they were the largest tank battles ever fought. This book examines two evenly matched competitors in this conflict, the German Panzer 38(t) and the Soviet BT-7. Both were of similar size, armed with guns of comparable firepower, and had foreign roots - the Panzer 38(t) was a Czechoslovak design and the BT-7 was an evolution of the American Christie tank. With full-colour artwork and archive and present-day photography, this absorbing study assesses the strengths and limitations of these two types against the wider background of armoured doctrine in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa.

In the build-up to World War II both the United States and Japan believed their battleships would play a central role in battle, but after the Pacific War began in December 1941, the role of the battleship proved to be much more limited than either side expected. There would be only two battleship vs battleship actions in the Pacific in World War II, both of which are assessed in this engaging study. At Guadalcanal in 1942, Kirishima faced two modern US battleships, USS Washington and USS South Dakota. In the Surigao Strait in 1944, two World War I-era Japanese battleships, Yamashiro and Fuso, faced six American battleships supported by four heavy cruisers in history's last-ever clash between battleships.Employing full-colour artwork, carefully selected archive photographs, and expert analysis, former US Navy Commander Mark E. Stille examines the two head-to-head clashes between the battleships deployed by the United States and Japan in the struggle for control of the Pacific during World War II.

The 1973 Yom Kippur War rewrote the textbook on the tactics of modern armored warfare. Unlike the previous major Arab-Israeli war of 1967, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) faced an enemy that had invested heavily in modern Soviet weapon systems and tactics.Using detailed color artwork and insightful analysis, this book explains how the effective use of the Soviet-supplied AT-3 Sagger (9M14 Malyutka) anti-tank missile allowed small Arab tank-killing teams to destroy Israeli armor at an astonishing rate. It also analyzes the tank that opposed it, the US-built M60A1, which had to fight for survival against the Arab Saggers, and shows how in both the Sinai and the Golan Heights, the IDF quickly learned that firepower and infantry/artillery cooperation were the keys to their survival.

Most of the critical naval fighting during the War of 1812 took place, not on the high seas, but on the inland lakes of North America: the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. Carrying between 12 and 22 cannon, the British and American sloops-of-war were ship-rigged, brig-rigged or schooner-rigged vessels with their guns on a single deck. Actions often involved two ships facing each other broadside to broadside, the best example of which was the battle of Lake Erie in 1813 where HMS Detroit led a Royal Navy squadron against the USS Lawrence-led US Navy.Featuring full-color artwork, this lively study investigates the prolonged struggle between British and US sloops-of-war, highlighting the differences between the war on the lakes and the war on the oceans during the Age of Fighting Sail. It reveals the circumstances under which these ships were built, how they were armed, and the human story behind their construction and use in battle.

By the time the Americans began their aerial bombardment of Japan in 1944, both the JAAF and IJNAF were spent forces. What the Japanese did have though was the Ki-44 "Tojo." Armed with two 40 mm cannon, it was the most heavily armed and feared single-seat fighter to see action against the new American bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. For the bomber crews, they had what they believed was their "ace in hole": a fully armed B-29 carried four remotely operated gun turrets and a tail gunner''s position, making it the world''s most advanced self-defending bomber.In every respect the Ki-44 pilots were fighting a desperate battle. Many who made their mark did so using suicidal ramming attacks or "Taiatari." Illustrated with full color artwork, this volume examines why the Ki-44 was unable to break up bomber formations conventionally during the Pacific War, and how its ramming tactics, while terrifying, graphically revealed Japan''s inability to stop the B-29.

In the mid-1960s, the Soviet Union unveiled the BMP-1, the first true infantry fighting vehicle. The BMP marked a significant departure from the traditional "armored personnel carrier", sporting a lower silhouette and a higher-caliber armament than rival APCs. This book examines the first time these Cold War icons clashed in the First Gulf War.

Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and carefully chosen archive photographs, this title assesses the evolving battle between Britain's submarines and Italy's torpedo boats in the struggle for primacy in the Mediterranean at the height of World War II.

The ineffectiveness of conventional air attacks on US Navy surface ships, particularly heavily defended targets like carrier task groups, forced the Japanese to re-evaluate their tactics in late 1944. The solution they arrived at was simple - crash their aircraft into American ships. This notion of self-sacrifice fit well within the Japanese warrior psyche and proved terrifying to the American sailors subjected to it. These tactics brought immediate results, and proved effective until the end of the war.This book examines this terrifying new way of waging war, revealing how the US Navy was forced to adapt its tactics and deploy new weapons to counter the threat posed by kamikaze attacks, as well as assessing whether the damage caused to American naval strength by the loss of so many pilots and aircraft actually had a material impact.