US Air Force Navy & Marines: Aggressor Aircraft Book

When the words 'Aggressor' or 'Adversary' aircraft are considered, inevitably the words 'Top Gun' spring to mind, and the exploits of Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, pitting his F-14 Tomcat against the wiles of 'Jester' in his A-4 Skyhawk from the 1980s movie. However, there is far more to the world of 'Dissimilar Air Combat Training' then first meets the eye, as all avenues of the United States armed services have dedicated flying units committed to the task of training front-line fighter crews to fly, fight and survive aerial engagements with hostile forces.These highly trained units fly a range and low-wing loaded fighters which are used to represent those of the potential adversaries. The US Navy and Marines originally operated the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and the Northrop F-5 to simulate aircraft from other nations, and likewise the US Air Force also employed the 'Tiger' for its purposes, and the Marines even operated a number of ex-Israeli Air Force Kfirs for a brief period. However in order to replicate the performance of the next generation of agile fighters, the Navy and Marines have supplemented these aircraft with the modern F/A-18 Hornet, the F-16N, whilst the Air Force have opted for the F-16 Viper and the larger F-15 Eagle.Apart from their mission, what makes these aircraft so unique is the abundance of unusual and diverse color schemes that have been applied to their number over the years, and has proved a source of inspiration and interest to both the enthusiast and the scale modeler. This new 'MDF Extra' brings together for the first time in one volume a vast collection of US Aggressor Aircraft, taking both an 'on the ground' and 'in the air' perspective of their color schemes and operational duties. Acclaimed aviation photographer Rick Llinares gives this new book a unique perspective with an array of air-to-air images of Aggressors 'in action' providing an 'all-action' backdrop to the work, whilst Andy Evans describes the history of adversary tactics, the aircraft employed and the operational units, and provides detailed color profiles.Read More