Air Warfare
Firebee – Lightning Bug — Unmanned Aircraft (UMA)
The three specially-modified UMA were deployed to Vietnam under Operation UNITED EFFORT. Overheating caused all three of the SIGINT packages to fail on their first missions. After modifications in the United States they were returned to Vietnam. The UMA involved was called the Model 147E, a variant of the Ryan Firebee target drone that eventually became known as the Lightning…
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF WARNING SYSTEMS, 1945-53 Part I
Warning is an integral part of air defense, but for the purposes of this study it has been separated from its air defense matrix. Our concern with warning in this study of command and control is in terms of its passive detection role. We do not deal with any of…
THE DEVELOPMENT OF WARNING SYSTEMS, 1945-53 Part II
E. THE SEAWARD EXTENSION OF A WARNING SYSTEM It was early recognized that any radar line, either close in or far to the north, would require extensions out to sea and down the coasts of the United States in order to prevent the possibilities .of an end-run attack on the…
Egyptian Front 1973 – The War in the Air
President Sadat, Chief-of-Staff General Isma’il ‘Ali, and C-in-C Egyptian Air Force Mubarak all concluded long before 6 October 1973 that the Egyptian Air Force was no match for the IAF and would not be for the foreseeable future. Egyptian air strategy for the October War was built around this central…
The Battle of Amiens and the Development of British Air-Land Battle, 1918–45 Part I
The Battle of Amiens was one of the most influential battles of the twentieth century. Four days of intense combat from 8–12 August 1918 saw the British Fourth and French First Armies shatter the German Second Army and drive it back, together with the German Eighteenth Army, up to 20…
The Battle of Amiens and the Development of British Air-Land Battle, 1918–45 Part II
As a successor to the Hurricane, Hawkers had designed the Typhoon around the massive 24-cylinder Napier Sabre engine. The new fighter had a troubled gestation; engine and structural failures were all too frequent events. Although designed as a high-speed fighter, it lacked manoeuvrability, performance fell off with altitude, and at…
French Naval Operations 1958-2000
Charles de Gaulle is the flagship of the French Navy (Marine Nationale). The ship is the tenth French aircraft carrier, the first French nuclear-powered surface vessel, and the only nuclear-powered carrier completed outside of the United States Navy. She is named after French statesman and general Charles de Gaulle. The…