Russian Air Power [Hardcover]

Yefim Gordon (Author), Alan Dawes (Author), Gordon Yefrim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2002

This book deals with the current state of the Russian Air Force, explaining its structure and Order of Battle in the light of recent reorganisations. There are chapters dealing with the Strategic Bomber Force, the Military Airlift Command, the Tactical Arm, the Naval Air Arm, and the Training and Support Command. The author also includes brief descriptions of all aircraft types currently being operated and their armament plus the latest details of experimental aircraft. The book also includes accounts of the First and Second Chechen Wars.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks International (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840372400
• ISBN-13: 978-1840372403
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,591,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most interesting read, May 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Russian Air Power (Hardcover)

This book represents a remarkably successful attempt to present the aviation elements of the numerous branches of the Russian armed forces and their equipment. Although detailed accounts of the latest Russian aircraft have been available for years, this lavishly illustrated volume succeeds in presenting these impressive aeronautical achievements in the context of the operational requirements and national strategy of Russia. Tactics and weapons are thoroughly discussed and major shortcomings, especially in training and maintanance are dealt with as well. The organisations themselves are presented in some detail; however, the reader who expects a detailed "order of battle" of these organisations will be disappointed.
The outstanding achievement of this volume is that it combines the russian perspective on airpower with some unknown aspects of Russian operations, e.g. Russian army UAVs, the two Chechen campaigns as well as fascinating future developements.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More on Aircraft and less on Air Power, September 12, 2009

By 

Krishna Jagannath "KRISHJAG" (London,UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Russian Air Power (Hardcover)

I Have been a prolific buyer of Yefim's books - in particular the Aerofax series , Red Star , Famous Russian aircraft - all from Midlands and the sadly defunct Airlife publishers.

The amount of technical information and the quality of photos and colour profiles which Yefim provides are incredible.

There is no equivalent american aircraft series like the famous Russian aircraft series.

This is basically an update of the 2002 Airlife edition with a similar title - with better photos and profiles and updated info .

Basically the book attempts to cover the re-org of the russian airforce and the new changes in strategy of all the units - however this is not in-depth.

One would expect the book to cover the Order of Battle in more detail , deployment ,bases and typical operational numbers and a basic overview map listing the known bases - all of which are missing and available on Scramble and other web sites.

Yefim covers the objectives of all the units , potted updates on the new types introduced , brief history of each aircraft (could have been avoided) - what is missing is possible a section on aircraft armament and operational strategy.

In summary the book is more of Russian aircraft and less of Strategy ,Operational tactics and order of Battle as one would expect from an Air Power book.

However the saving grace are the badges , photos and profiles which are excellent on glossy paper (though rehashed from other works) for a steeply priced book. Though I give it 3 stars as it falls short of my expectation as I have earlier books - would have given it another star (4) had i been a new buyer.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HOLY COW!!!, April 21, 2009

By 

Jim Rotramel (Lexington Park, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Russian Air Power (Hardcover)

Being interested in Russian/Soviet military aviation, I already had several of Yefim Gordon's books (Mig-21, MiG-29, Su-27, Soviet Weapons, etc.). I've almost always been disappointed in books that cover multiple aircraft types, so I was not overly hopeful that this book would be anything special. Boy, was I wrong! Almost every, if not every page is filled with eye-popping color photographs and artwork. Most (if not all) of it is new and the emphasis is on operational aircraft instead of the company demonstrators so often seen in books on Russian aircraft. If you have any interest in modern Soviet military aircraft you will will love this book!