Customer Reviews

Russian Air Power

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Essentailly, this book provides great analysis on the current state of the Russian Airforce. Since the fall of Communism in 1990, the country has gone into an extreme debt. Due to that debt the Russian Airfoce has been forced to endure extreme budget cuts and upgrades to existing aircraft. Most development programs are now only research and development for scientific purposes. Many of the more advanced aircraft such as the Mig 1.42, S-37a or SU-47, and SU-37 will never see combat service. The history behind these planes, however, is fantastic. Huge recommendation for any Cold War fans. This is way better than Popular Mechanics on individual jets.

Yefim Gordon is one of the top aviatian journalists in the world today, especially in regards to Soviet and Russian aircraft and designs. Being Russian, he offers an insider's view on the history, design, manufacture, and development of all major Soviet/Russian aircraft programs. Together with co-author Alan Dawes, Gordon has created the ultimate study of the modern Russian Air Force. The book analyzes and details the various air forces from the Soviet Union (Long Range Aviation, Frontal Aviation, Transport, Air Defense, Naval,etc) to today and gives an up-to-date breakdown on the current usage including squadrons, aircraft types, and airbases.

Lavish with full color pictures and rich with detail from an insider's perspective, Russian Air Power is a must have for any aviation enthusiast and well worth the money.

This book has superb photographs of contemporary Russian Military aircraft with sketches in full color of many variants. Also featured is lots of examples Russian Aircraft nose art which it seems to be what they work at when not flying. The book is very well presented and incedibly colorfull.

My only criticisms are that it lacked details on Russian air strength (numbers in service by type) which was in the earlier edition and the positioning of photos and drawings frequently did not match the descriptive text on the same page.

Still a very good book and up to Gordon's usual high standard

Well researched book detailing the current units and aircraft of Russia. Great color photographs and full color profiles of aircraft are throughout the book. As a modeler I found a wealth of inspiration in this book.

This book rocks my socks off. It has so many colorful aircraft profiles and I think all of the 100+ photos are in color. I haven't had a chance to read much of it, but judging from the introduction, dated Sept 2008, it is extremely current and in depth.

There are some things that usually take military members to understand, such as organization and command structure. Yefin Gordon does a great job shedding these elusive subjects to light in detail.

This book just came out and it is completely awesome, and detailed. I never knew there was still a MiG-25 unit in active duty until I saw a profile and pictures!

What this book will not do is list Russian bases and the units that are stationed there, and current strength, etc. This book is not trying to be an intelligence report for the West. But it is damn good.