From the publisher’s notes on this book: “Early in the morning of 2 August 1990, aircraft of the Iraqi Air Force bombed Kuwaiti air bases, and then the Iraqi Republican Guards stormed into the country. Thus, began what would be called the ‘Gulf War’ – or the ‘II Gulf War’ or ‘II Persian Gulf War’ – fought between January and March 1991.

Although encountering some problems, the Iraqi forces occupied Kuwait in a matter of a few days. However, when President Saddam Hussein of Iraq unleashed his military upon Kuwait, little did he know what kind of reaction he would provoke from the Western superpowers, and what kind of devastation his country would suffer in return.

Helion produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published almost 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year. The 'Africa@War' series covers African military history since 1945.

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of spending a week in Prague. Relatively untouched by the Second World War, I had a delightful time. While I had a general knowledge of what happened in 1968, I was not thinking about the sacrifices that the inhabitants of the city made. This volume fills that gap. Hellion Publishing has created a host of series that examine conflicts around the world, including Europe. This particular volume provides an overview of the Soviet and Warsaw Pact intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968. As with other Hellion offerings, it follows a standard design and format. The text provides context and details of the intervention. Given what happened in 1968, I have never seen many of these photographs, so anyone with an interest in Soviet vehicles and equipment, it is a treasure trove of information. They also include a small selection of color photographs, profiles of equipment that took part in the intervention, and a map.

This Kit

The kit’s guns are described as “The Mk 103/38 was a late-war, four-gun installation of the Mk 103 3cm gun from Rheinmetall Borsig. The Mk 103 was an electrically fired, recoil and gas-operated automatic cannon designed to be used as a dual-purpose weapon against air and ground targets.

The Mk 103 had a rate of fire of 280 rounds per minute using high explosive (HE) rounds, and 420 rounds per minute when firing Armor Piercing rounds.

The experimental Mk 103/38 four-gun installation proved troublesome dur to (the) fact that the mount was originally designed for the smaller 2cm Flak 38, and heavy vibration took its toll on both the equipment and the crew aiming the weapon.”

The Author

Andy Evans is a full-time author who has contributed to several magazines including Aircraft Illustrated, Air World International and Military Magazine. His previous books include BAe/McDonnell Douglas Harrier [Crowood 1998].

The Publication Contents

Glossary

Here the author begins with a page of terms associated with the F-15. Many are familiar, while other are new to me.

Introduction

The intro pages are essentially a recap of the F-15 features, series, weapons and brief combat history.

Chapter 1 Flight of the Eagle

This chapter reviews the developmental history of the F-15 beginning with the F-X (Flighter-Experimental) Project. Several in-flight images of the First F-15A model and included. It was interesting to note the F-15 project included no prototype aircraft: The F-15 was ordered off the drawing board.