Description
MODERN
COMBAT
AIRCRAFT
CHRISTOPHER CHANT
By 1960 the development of military aircraft since the end of
World War II had produced a number of classic types with
what was assumed to be devastating combat potential. Enor-
mous effort and finance had gone into the development of these
aircraft, which were moving towards the supposed ideal of
‘Mach 2 performance’ coupled with electronic advances in the
fields of navigation and weapon delivery.
But then came the Vietnam War, and the fallacies of the
American-dominated ‘Mach 2’ type of aircraft were revealed:
sophisticated combat aircraft were too fast for genuine tactical
missions, an older generation of aircraft with higher levels of
maneuverability but lower speed was able to tackle later air-
craft with some measure of confidence, gun armament was
proved essential (but lacking in most American aircraft). The
problem was that American aircraft (and by analogy most
West Europeancombat aircraft) had been designed to meet
Russian aircraft in an arena in which it was imagined high
performance and high technology would predominate; the role
demanded of them in Vietnam was totally different, and in the
process revealed the possible errors in the scenario that had
decided their original design parameters.
Much could be and was achieved by extensive series of
modifications, but it was also clear that the revised tactical
scenario apparent after the VietnamWar called for a new
generation of aircraft that placed survivability, agility, and
versatility above outright performance. Once again tech-
nology suitable to the task was available to designers, and by
1970 new basic aircraft appeared incorporating engines of
higher thrust: weight ratios, significantly different aero-
dynamic concepts to boost agility and controlability, elec-
tronically-signalled ‘fly-by-wire’ controls which used a com-
puter to convert the pilot’s inputs into control movements, and
a host of other almost ‘science fiction’ features.
The process continued through the 1970s to the extent that a
major re-equipment of the world’s major air forces had been
undertaken by the beginning of the 1980s. And the progress
continues, with research into yet more ambitious aircraft and
a new generation of electronics and avionics to enhance the
pilot’s capabilities and make aircraft more flexible and more
capable.
Modern Combat Aircraft is an essential reference book con-
taining up-to-date information and technical specifications on
some 240 aircraft, with over 200 photographs in colour and
black and white.
Christopher Chant was brought up in East Africa, but edu-
cated at The King’s School, Canterbury and at Oriel College,
Oxford, where he took a degree in Literae Humaniores. He has
been fascinated in aviation since an early age, and after
coming down from Oxford became an assistant editor on the
Purnell partworks History of the Second World War and
History of the First World War. In 1972 he became editor of the
Orbis partwork World War 11, and on its completion left full-
time publishing employment to concentrate on his writing
career. Since that time he has married and moved from London
to rural Lincolnshire, where he now lives with his wife and two
sons. He is the author of a number of works dealing with
aviation and modern military history, including Air Forces of
World Wars I and II, Boeing: The World’s Greatest Plane-
makers, Warplanes, B-29 Superfortress, Harrier, Sea King,
and Boeing 707.
First edition Hard Cover. In good preloved condition with the exception of several tears and some wear to dust jacket. 192 pages.
ISBN 0 7112 0336 9
