Over Cold War Seas: NATO and Soviet Naval Aviation, 194989

(Hardback)

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Michael Napier describes the naval air power deployed by NATO, Warsaw Pact and neutral countries throughout the Cold War.

In 1949, an Iron Curtain was drawn across Europe, and the Cold War the ensued between the Western North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries and the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact lasted through to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. NATO and Warsaw Pact naval forces spread over the worlds oceans, and the powerful forces of the US Navys Second Fleet patrolled the North Atlantic, while the Sixth Fleet was positioned in the Mediterranean. The age of the nuclear-powered supercarrier arrived in 1957 with the USS Forrestal, while the Soviet Unions first aircraft carrier, the Kiev, was commissioned in 1975.

In Over Cold War Seas, respected aviation author Mike Napier examines the naval air power of the major combatant forces as it developed from 1949 through to 1989. All the major naval aircraft types are covered, both fixed wing and helicopters, which entered service in the 1950s for light transport or rescue duties and evolved into multi-purpose machines capable of performing anti-submarine and airborne early warning missions. This detailed text is supported by a wide range of first-hand accounts of operational flying during the Cold War, as well as over 240 high-quality, contemporary images.

Author Bio

Michael Napier is an experienced author with ten published titles to his name, five of which have been published by Osprey, including The Royal Air Force: A Centenary of Operations, In Cold War Skies and Korean Air War. He is an ex-RAF Tornado strike/attack pilot who saw front-line service during the Cold War as well as combat experience over Iraq.