Download or read book Flak written by Edward B. Westermann and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Air raid sirens wail, searchlight beams flash across the sky, and the night is aflame with tracer fire and aerial explosions, as Allied bombers and German anti-aircraft units duel in the thundering darkness. Such "cinematic" scenes, played out with increasing frequency as World War II ground to a close, were more than mere stock material for movie melodramas. As Edward Westermann reveals, they point to a key but largely unappreciated aspect of the German war effort that has yet to get its full due.Long the neglected stepchild in studies of World War II air campaigns, German flak or anti-aircraft units have been frequently dismissed by American, British, and German historians (and by veterans of the European air war) as ineffective weapons that wasted valuable materiel and personnel resources desperately needed elsewhere by the Third Reich. Westermann emphatically disagrees with that view and makes a convincing case for the significant contributions made by the entire range of German anti-aircraft defenses.During the Allied air campaigns against the Third Reich, well over a million tons of bombs were dropped upon the German homeland, killing nearly 300,000 civilians, wounding another 780,000, and destroying more than 3,500,000 industrial and residential structures. Not surprisingly, that aerial Armageddon has inspired countless studies of both the victorious Allied bombing offensive and the ultimately doomed Luftwaffe defense of its own skies. By contrast, flak units have virtually been ignored, despite the fact that they employed more than a million men and women, were responsible for more than half of all Allied aircraft losses, forced Allied bombers to fly far abovehigh-accuracy altitudes, and thus allowed Germany to hold out far longer than it might have otherwise.Westermann's definitive study sheds new light on every facet of the development and organization of this vital defense arm, includi
Download or read book Air Defense Artillery written by and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Naval Anti Aircraft Guns and Gunnery written by Norman Friedman and published by Seaforth Publishing. This book was released on 2014-01-21 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book does for naval anti-aircraft defence what the author's Naval Firepower did for surface gunnery ÛÒ it makes a highly complex but historically crucial subject accessible to the layman. It chronicles the growing aerial threat from its inception in the First World War and the response of each of the major navies down to the end of the Second, highlighting in particular the widely underestimated danger from dive-bombing. Central to this discussion is an analysis of what effective AA fire-control required, and how well each navy's systems actually worked. It also takes in the weapons themselves, how they were placed on ships, and how this reflected the tactical concepts of naval AA defence. As would be expected from any Friedman book, it offers striking insights ÛÒ he argues, for example, that the Royal Navy, so often criticised for lack of 'air-mindedness', was actually the most alert to the threat, but that its systems were inadequate not because they were too primitive but because they tried to achieve too much.??The book summarises the experience of WW2, particularly in theatres where the aerial danger was greatest, and a concluding chapter looks at post-1945 developments that drew on wartime lessons. All important guns, directors and electronics are represented in close-up photos and drawings, and lengthy appendices detail their technical data. It is, simply, another superb contribution to naval technical history by its leading exponent.
Download or read book Archie in the A E F written by Charles Edward Kirkpatrick and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Emerging Shield written by Kenneth Schaffel and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Self Propelled Anti Aircraft Guns of the Soviet Union written by Mike Guardia and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-05-20 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Cold War, the Soviet Army was perhaps the deadliest fighting force the world had ever seen. Within its mechanized forces, the Soviets accomplished something that their American counterparts never could – the fielding of a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) that could keep pace with its heavy armored formations. This volume examines the design, development and operational history of the Soviet Union's Cold War SPAAGs: the ZSU-37, ZSU-57-2, the infamous ZSU-23-4, and the 9K22 Tunguska (better known by its NATO reporting name: SA-19 'Grison'). These vehicles excelled in their air defense role, and many US Department of Defense publications were dedicated to examining how to defeat the ZSU and its radar tracking system. These formidable weapons equipped Russian forces in Afghanistan and were encountered again in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, cementing their place in the landscape of modern warfare. This study explores the full history of the SPAAGs with revealing photographs, technical illustrations and detailed analysis.
Download or read book Air Defense Weapons written by John Nicholas and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the different kinds of air defense weapons used by the United States Army at various times in history, including radar, antiaircraft guns, and missiles.
Download or read book Red SAM written by Steven J. Zaloga and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-12-20 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Russian SA-2, nicknamed “Red SAM,” is history's dominant antiaircraft missile. In 1960 it famously downed Gary Powers' U-2 spyplane, and two years later it was one of the missiles deployed during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which almost sparked a nuclear showdown between America and the USSR. The SA-2 was also deployed in Vietnam, North Korea, Egypt, and even the Gulf War. Using photographs, color artwork, and rare accounts from the weapon's designers, Steven J Zaloga examines the missile's development, linking this to its massive impact on Cold War air campaigns, and investigates the design changes that have helped the SA-2 stand the test of time.
Download or read book On Air Defense written by James D. Crabtree and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1994-10-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a study of all aspects of air defense from its beginnings during the French Revolution when artillery gunners tried to hit primitive balloons with their cannons to the use of Patriot missiles in the Gulf War to shoot down tactical ballistic missiles. Crabtree's history focuses on the development of tactics and technology from the Franco-Prussian War to the present. The strategic air defense of World War I and World War II are featured, as are the development of surface-to-air missiles by Germany in World War II and by the United States and the USSR in Vietnam and the Middle East.
Download or read book Anti aircraft Defense written by Coast Artillery School (U.S.) and published by . This book was released on 1922 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Air and Missile Defense Systems Engineering written by Warren J. Boord and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2016-04-06 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Air and Missile Defense Systems Engineering fills a need for those seeking insight into the design procedures of the air and missile defense system engineering process. Specifically aimed at policy planners, engineers, researchers, and consultants, it presents a balanced approach to negating a target in both natural and electronic attack environmen
Download or read book Blazing skies Air Defense Artillery on Fort Bliss 1940 2009 written by and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is an authoritative history on the Army Air Defense Artillery Branch on Fort Bliss, Texas. Fort Bliss in 1940 was a cavalry post located on the Texas border. The post itself occupied the sixth location of what had been called Fort Bliss. In the summer of 1940 a number of Army National Guard antiaircraft regiments were called to active duty to spend one year protecting American cities and territories from air attack. In September the first antiaircraft regiment, the 202nd Coast Artillery (Antiaircraft) Regiment, arrived at Fort Bliss. Over the next four years the post became an antiaircraft training center and finally the Army antiaircraft training center. After the war, Fort Bliss became the premier guided missile testing and training center for the Army. All of the Nike missile battalions deployed to protect American cities during the Cold War trained there. As time passed, Fort Bliss expanded to 1.1 million acres, one of the largest Army posts in the world. By 1946, the antiaircraft arm was the owner of Fort Bliss. By 1957, the post had become the Air Defense Center and School for the United States Army. This book is the story of that progression until the Base Realignment and Closure announcement in 2005. By 2011, the Air Defense Artillery Center and School will be located at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This will end the era of Air Defense Artillery ownership of Fort Bliss, Texas
Download or read book Archie to SAM written by Air University Press and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-30 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archie to SAM is an update in 2005 to Kenneth Werrell's Archie, Flak, AAA, and SAM. He continues to study ground-based air defense systems in new events, including the Gulf War. In rescuing ground-based air defense systems from long neglect, Werrell delves into such topics as tactics, leadership, change, and innovation. Dr. Kenneth Werrell's history of ground-based air defense performs an important service both to scholarship and, more importantly, to the defense of our nation's freedom. It is perhaps human nature that we tend over time to lose sight of the lessons of the past, especially when they do not conform to certain cherished preconceptions of ours. That such myopia can be dangerous, if not downright disastrous, Dr. Werrell's study richly illustrates. Without sentimentalism, he chronicles a pattern of lessons learned and too quickly forgotten as the marvel of air power was reminded again and again of its limitations and vulnerability. In Korea and in Vietnam, the American people were stripped of their illusions of national and technical omnipotence. The unhappy outcome of those two conflicts was doubly lamentable because the lessons of World War II were--or should have been--fresh in our minds. In that world war, as Dr. Werrell shows, relatively cheap ground-based air defense did make a difference: at Ploesti, at Antwerp, and at the Rhine bridges.And it will make a difference tomorrow. The greatest value of Dr. Werrell's work is that it provides guideposts and guidance for us as professional soldiers and aviators charged with upholding American security. We have taken history's lessons to heart as we plan and program our ground-based air defenses into the next decade and beyond. In both the forward and the rear areas, we have emphasized the time-honored principles of mass, mix, and mobility. No one weapon, not even today's modern aircraft, can do the job alone. The truism applies with particular force to antiaircraft defense. And at least one other truism emerges from Dr. Werrell's and our own studies: effective air defense requires a joint and combined effort. Our planning has been predicated on the assumption that counterair will play a central role in safeguarding our ground forces from air attack. On the ground, the air defense artillery will count on the cooperation and assistance of our colleagues in the infantry, armor, and field artillery. On our success or failure in working together to meet the challenges of tomorrow will rest our nation's future.Contents * Foreword * PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION * PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION * Chapter 1 * ANTIAIRCRAFT DEFENSE THROUGH WORLD WAR II * British Antiaircraft Artillery * The V-1 Campaign * American Antiaircraft Artillery * German Flak * Allied Countermeasures * Fratricide * The US Navy in the Pacific * Japanese Antiaircraft Artillery * The Lessons of World War II * Notes * Chapter 2 * FROM GUNS TO MISSILES, 1945-1965 * Antiaircraft Returns to Combat: * The Korean War * Antiaircraft Missiles * Notes * Chapter 3 * AIRMEN VERSUS GUERRILLAS: VIETNAM * French Operations * America Enters the War * SAMs Join the Fight * American Air Operations through Linebacker I * Linebacker II * Conclusions * Notes * Chapter 4 * OPERATIONS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND THE PERSIAN GULF * Arab-Israeli Wars: 1948, 1956, 1967-1973 * The 1973 War * Combat since 1973: Bekaa Valley * American Air Strikes in the Middle East, 1983-1986 * Indo-Pakistani War * The Falkland Islands/Malvinas War, 1982 * Other Actions in the 1980s * Summary * Notes * Chapter 5 * BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE: THE EARLY YEARS TO 1991 * Army Development * The Kennedy Administration * Ballistic Missile Defense: Rebirth * The Strategic Defense Initiative: Star Wars * The Gulf War: Patriot versus Scud * The Patriot * Patriot in Action * Notes * Chapter 6 * GROUND-BASED AIR DEFENSE SINCE 1990: THE GULF, THE BALKANS, AND AFGHANISTAN * War in the Persian Gulf: * Air Defense since 1991: Iraq, Balkans, and Afghanistan
Download or read book Anti aircraft Guns written by Peter Chamberlain and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the book's Foreword: In the early 1970s, the U.S. Army Center of Military History contracted with BDM Corporation for a history of U.S. efforts to counter Soviet air and missile threats during the Cold War. The resulting two-volume History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense covers the years 1945-1972 when the strategic arms competition between the United States and the Soviet Union was at its height. The study was first published for limited distribution in 1975 and recently declassified with minimal redaction. These volumes address the passive and active defense strategies, technologies, and techniques adopted by both U.S. and Soviet defense planners. Much of their actions centered around three common questions: How might we be attacked? How shall we defend our country? What can technology do to solve the basic problems of defending against this new intercontinental threat?
Download or read book Archie to Sam written by Kenneth R. Werrell and published by . This book was released on 2005-08 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archie to SAM is an update to Kenneth Werrell's Archie, Flak, AAA, and SAM published in 1988. He continues to study ground-based air defense systems in new events, including the Gulf War. In rescuing ground-based air defense systems from long neglect, Werrell delves into such topics as tactics, leadership, change, and innovation
Download or read book IX Air Defense Command written by United States. Army Air Forces. IX Air Defense Command and published by . This book was released on 1949 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
