A familiar sight both in military and worldwide commercial use, the Ilyushin IL-76 was the Soviet's answer to the Lockheed Starlifter. Compiled by noted Russian aviation writers and historians from a wealth of first-hand Russian sources, this book is a comprehensive history of each variant and its service. Extensive tables detail each aircraft built with complete notes on every operator-both civil and military-and their fleets. For military enthusiasts and modelers.
Established in 1934, the Ilyushin design bureau is one of the best-known Soviet/Russian aircraft design companies. Over the years, the Ilyushin OKB has developed aircraft for widely varying roles. Its first aircraft to achieve production status, the DB-3 bomber, entered service in 1936. The IL-2 (Shturmovik) armored attack aircraft brought Ilyushin well-earned fame; this aircraft fought with considerable success during World War II. The OKB's involvement with combat aircraft continued with the experimental IL-22 four-jet counterpart of the English Electric Canberra. However, it was those years that marked the OKB's transition to transport aircraft from the twin-engined IL-12 of 1945 developed as a 'DC-3 replacement', followed by many successful aircraft, including the four-turboprop IL-18 airliner (1957), the four-turbofan long-half IL-62 (1961), the IL-76 military/civil freighter (1971) and the first Soviet wide-body airliner, the IL-86 of 1976. The company has also moved into general aviation with the IL-103 four-seater.
Praise for Merchant of Death "A riveting investigation of the world's most notorious arms dealer--a page-turner that digs deep into the amazing, murky story of Viktor Bout. Farah and Braun have exposed the inner workings of one of the world's most secretive businesses--the international arms trade." —Peter L. Bergen, author of The Osama bin Laden I Know "Viktor Bout is like Osama bin Laden: a major target of U.S. intelligence officials who time and again gets away. Farah and Braun have skillfully documented how this notorious arms dealer has stoked violence around the world and thwarted international sanctions. Even more appalling, they show how Bout ended up getting millions of dollars in U.S. government money to assist the war in Iraq. A truly impressive piece of investigative reporting." —Michael Isikoff, coauthor of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War "Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun are two of the toughest investigative reporters in the country. This is an important book about a hidden world of gunrunning and profiteering in some of the world's poorest countries." —Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 "In Merchant of Death, two of America's finest reporters have performed a major public service, turning over the right rocks that reveal the brutal international arms business at the dawn of the twenty-first century. In Viktor Bout, they have given us a new Lord of War, a man who knows no side but his own, and who has a knack for turning up in every war zone just in time to turn a profit. As Farah and Braun uncover and document his troubling role in the Bush Administration's Global War on Terror, his ties to Washington almost seem inevitable." —James Risen, author of State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration "An extraordinary and timely piece of investigative reporting, Merchant of Death is also a vividly compelling read. The true story of Viktor Bout, a sociopathic Russian gunrunner who has supplied weapons for use in some of the most gruesome conflicts of modern times--and who can count amongst his clients both the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the U.S. military in Iraq--is a stomach-churning indictment of the policy failures and moral contradictions of the world's most powerful governments, including that of the United States." —Jon Lee Anderson, author of The Fall of Baghdad Two respected journalists tell the incredible story of Viktor Bout, the Russian weapons supplier whose global network has changed the way modern warfare is fought. Bout’s vast enterprise of guns, planes, and money has fueled internecine slaughter in Africa and aided both militant Islamic fanatics in Afghanistan and the American military in Iraq. This book combines spy thrills with crucial insights on the shortcomings of a U.S. foreign policy that fails to confront the lucrative and lethal arms trade that erodes global security.
In the world's most dangerous and war-torn trouble spots, you will find a small band of men risking their lives to fly the planes that bring in desperately needed aid and supplies. These combat-hardened veterans fly giant Soviet-era superplanes which carry a dark secret: 15 tonnes' worth of secret compartments which they fill with illicit payload.
This new IISS Strategic Dossier examines the recent development of Moscow’s armed forces and military capabilities. It analyses the aspirations underpinning Russia’s military reform programme and its successes as well as its failures. The book also provides insights into Russia’s operational use of its armed forces, including in the intervention in Syria, the goals and results of recent state armament programmes, and the trajectory of future developments. This full-colour volume includes more than 50 graphics, maps and charts and over 70 images, and contains chapters on: Russia's armed forces since the end of the Cold War Strategic forces Ground forces Naval forces Aerospace forces Russia’s approach to military decision-making and joint operations Economics and industry At a time when Russia’s relations with many of its neighbours are increasingly strained, and amid renewed concern about the risk of an armed clash, this dossier is essential reading for understanding the state,capabilities and future of Russia’s armed forces.
More than half of the U.S.’s aircraft losses in Europe in World War II were due to German antiaircraft artillery, and many of the American aircraft shot down by Luftwaffe fighters had first been driven out of formation by flak and made easy prey for the fighters. A world away in the Pacific, American flak guns aboard naval ships formed the last line of defense against Japanese kamikazes. Historian Donald Nijboer relies on firsthand accounts, newly discovered files, photos, diagrams, and maps to reveal the forgotten contribution of flak in World War II, from doctrine and tactics to combat stories on the ground and in the air about what it was like to fly into the teeth of antiaircraft fire.
A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft Yefim Gordon & Vladimir Rigmant The origins of the design bureau that was to bear his name can be traced back to the appointment of Andrey Nikolayevich Tupolev as head of the TsAGI's Aviation Department in 1918. Over the years, nearly 300 projects have evolved within the OKB. Nearly 90 reached the prototype construction stage, with more than 40 types put into series production.In the 1930s, the TB-1 (ANT-4) and TB-3 (ANT-6) bombers, the latter being the world's first heavy strategic bomber, paved the way for the long line of large multi-engined aircraft both civil and military for which the OKB is justly famed. Wartime production of the SB and Tu-2 plus the remarkable 'reverse engineering' of the Boeing B-29 that resulted in the Tu-4 led on to the jet Tu-16 and prop Tu-95 bombers. These, in turn were adapted for civil purposes as the Tu-104 and Tu-114 airliners. The supersonic Tu-22 and Tu-22M bombers and the Tu-144 airliner, a move into pilotless aircraft and a host of imaginative but unbuilt projects complete a fascinating work.
Entering service with the USSR Air Force in 1950, the Ilyushin IL-28 Beagle has been dubbed 'The Russian Canberra.' This is the first in-depth study of the long-serving light bomber. Besides the USSR, it served with the air forces of Egypt, China, Czechoslovakia and Poland. The aircraft had a maximum speed of 600 mph at sea level and 515 mph at 36,000 feet. IL-28 was armed with two, fixed forward-firing 23-mm cannons and two, 23-mm cannons in a manually-directed tail position.Hardcover, 7-1/2 x 9-1/2, 224 pp, 24 color, 162 b/w and 36 line drawings
When they bought a manufacturing license for the DC-3 in 1935, the Soviet aircraft industry's decision makers had no way of knowing the place the Douglas airliner would come to occupy in aviation's hall of fame. Yet, even less did they know of the part the Soviet spin-off would play in the nation's aviation history. Suitably adapted to make use of Russian engines and structural materials, the DC-3 entered production as the PS-84; and gradually the design drifted further apart from the US original. In 1941 production was moved from Moscow to Tashkent to escape the advancing German troops and the aircraft was redesignated Li2. The Li-2 served an innumerable multitude of tasks, including the night bomber role during the war and flights in support of Soviet polar research in the post-war years. This addition to the ever-popular Red Star series describes all known versions of the PS-84/Li-2 and gives operational details as it explored what is probably the least-known aspect of the history of one of the world's best-known airliners. Four pages of line drawings are included.
