Historical Background

The hobby of modeling has been around for almost as long as mankind, perfected in the later centuries by sailors aboard ships, who occupied free time by building ship models. In the twentieth century, with the development of airplanes and motorized vehicles, modeling expanded, with the appearance of kits made of wood, plastic, metals, and other materials. With this amount of activity, modeling became a popular activity, and publications and organizations began to appear throughout the world. The development of plastic kits probably began in England before World War II, and the use of models for military recognition training gave more people experience with the activity. American high school students build model airplanes for the military from plans provided by the military, and other models were produced of ships and vehicles for those services. Boys of that generation all built models of one kind or another.

Author Tom Cooper is an Austrian aerial warfare analyst and historian. What makes him qualified to author a book on a very non-linear and confusing chapter of history is the vast network of contacts he garnered throughout his time in the Middle East and Africa. He has authored/co-authored about 60 books, over 1,000 articles, and the Helion Series Editor for Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Technology at War. When someone with Tom’s credentials writes a book about a topic that you’re interested in reading, you pick up the book and prepare to be educated. He is also the talented artist for the color profiles (pp i-xiv).

Moscow’s Game of Poker – Russian Military Intervention in Syria, 2015-2017 is a revised edition (the original edition, Middle East @ War No. 14, was published in November 2018; ISBN 9781912390373 and featured a Su-34, Bort 27 Red, and MiG 23 on its cover).

From Military-Today.com: The BRDM-2 scout car was developed as a replacement for the previous BRDM-1. It was officially adopted by the Soviet army in 1962 with production commencing in 1963. Production ceased in 1989. Around 10 000 units including variants were built. Currently this amphibious scout car it is in service with Russian army and over 50 countries worldwide.

Armor of the BRDM-2 provides all-round protection against 7.62 mm ball rounds and small caliber artillery fragments. The BRDM-2 turret is armed with a 14.5 mm heavy machine gun and coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun. The heavy machine gun penetrates 32 mm of steel armor at a range of 500 m.