Des Brennan provides a thorough coverage of the development, deployment, service, and retirement of the Panavia Tornado ADV in this publication. Illustrated by Richard J. Caruana, this book is an excellent resource for the aviation historian as well as the modeler.

The written content is well written, in clear and precise language. The content is presented in chronological sequence, as most publications of this type are, beginning with a thorough description of the role into which a new aircraft was to fit. The author describes, in detail, the requirements that the aircraft was to meet in order to accomplish its purpose in a theatre of operations with rather complex needs.

The text is supported by a large number of excellent color images and stunning 3-view drawings of the aircraft with varied markings. Richard Caruana, the illustrator, certainly captured the aircraft well in these illustrations.

Background

The air war in Vietnam was a departure from what the United States had experienced in prior conflicts. The over-dependence on air-to-air missiles, micromanagement of operations from the White House, and countless constraints and rules of engagement put American aircrews at a distinct disadvantage against North Vietnamese adversaries. Despite those limitations, the US forces adapted to circumstances, exercised some good old American ingenuity, and managed to generate several aces and some legendary missions based on unorthodox tactics. A common thread in the making of these aces and employment of these tactics was the F-4 Phantom II.

The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was also adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force, and by the mid-1960s had become a major part of their air wings.

The Phantom is a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds (8,400 kg) of weapons on nine external hard-points, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon. Later models incorporated an M-61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for in-flight performance, including an absolute speed record, and an absolute altitude record.

Tony Buttler was born in 1956 and joined High Duty Alloys in Redditch in 1974 as a metallurgist. For nearly 20 years he was closely involved in the testing of aluminum and titanium airframe and engine components for many of the world’s most important airplanes. It was during this timeframe that his interest in military aircraft grew into a passion. Since 1995, Tony has been a freelance aviation historian, with this book being his twenty-sixth major release. He has also written many titles for the Warpaint series of monographs as well as many articles for most of the popular historical aviation magazines.

The AH-64 Apache helicopter has served the U.S. Army since 1986 as its primary attach helicopter. During it’s time in service, the Apache has gone through a series of upgrades, and improvements to increase its combat effectiveness, as well as survivability. The Block II aircraft integrates the advanced radar targeting system, Longbow, allowing the helicopter to engage multiple targets while remaining behind cover. The APG-78 Longbow radar system is the large dome radar located above the aircraft’s rotors. In addition to this improvement, the latest version of the Block II upgrades includes new exhaust ducts, which direct the engine exhausts vertically to improve protection from infra-red targeting.