B-52 Stratofortress Units In Operation Desert Storm (Combat Aircraft 50) [Paperback]

Jon Lake (Author), Mark Styling (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Combat Aircraft | Publication Date: November 11, 2004

With the ending of the Cold War (1946-1991), the B-52's traditional combat role became redundant, and the USAF looked for new ways to use the machine. The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in August 1990 gave the B-52 the chance to prove its worth in the new world order, and Stratofortress crews flying the B-52G seized the opportunity with both hands. This book explains how, flying from bases in the Indian Ocean, Britain, Spain and Saudi Arabia, the B-52G was at the forefront of the campaign to free Kuwait of Saddam's forces and dropped the first bombs of Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991).

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Osprey's Combat series combines the best archival photography available with specially commissioned artworks and first hand accounts, making these books favourites amongst historians, modellers and aviation enthusiasts everywhere.

About the Author

Jon Lake is the author of several books for Osprey, including volumes on wartime aircraft like the Avro Lancaster and Bristol Blenheim, as well as modern combat aircraft like the MiG-29. One of the founding editors of World Air Power Journal, Lake is a regular contributor to a number of aviation magazines and newspapers. An RAF-trained private pilot Lake has written extensively about post war and contemporary military aviation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (November 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841767514
• ISBN-13: 978-1841767512
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,193,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding short history of recent BUFF missions, July 17, 2005

By 

David C. Leaumont "Dave" (Bossier City, LA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: B-52 Stratofortress Units In Operation Desert Storm (Combat Aircraft 50) (Paperback)

The B-52 Stratofortress often gets the back page to its newer counterparts. This book does a good job of covering the BUFF's action in Desert Storm, the B-52G's last hurrah.

The book goes a bit farther than many in regards to photography. The images within are not the almost-cliche'd images that can be found easily in a Google search. The writing is a bit awkward at times, but the author gets most of the facts right. The author covers a large amount of information and does justice to the great benefit of the BUFF in Desert Storm's success.

In regards to previous reviews regarding apparent errors, the B-52G/H CAN carry 6 external Mk-84s, but the load letters that regulate how weapons are loaded limited loading to 5 weapons (2-1-2 config). A 3-0-3 config is allowed now, but at the time, that information is correct.

4.0 out of 5 stars B-52 at Diego Garcia, June 23, 2011

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Allan G. Hagelthorn "Allan" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: B-52 Stratofortress Units In Operation Desert Storm (Combat Aircraft 50) (Paperback)

From the perspective of the role of the B-52 operating out of Diego Garcia, is was a pretty accurate depiction of the role of the old bomber. The author made the mistake of lumping the combat effectiveness of all of the units into one summary which does not accurately portray the success of the 4300 PBW.

3.0 out of 5 stars Too much on the micro level and not enough on macro, April 23, 2009

By 

Yoda (Hadera, Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: B-52 Stratofortress Units In Operation Desert Storm (Combat Aircraft 50) (Paperback)

Book provides plenty of detail on many individual sorties/operations. However, due to short length of the book (96 pages but only half that in text due to many illustrations), this has short changed the discussion and analysis of the aircraft's performance and role. The author has included many individual stories, first hand, from those involved in the operations. These take up a relatively large part of the book. However, again due to short length of book, this comes at the cost of less higher level analysis regarding performance and success/failures of different type of operations as opposed to individual missions.

The book has excellent color plates with detailed illustrations of a large number of camo patterns and other details. If a reader is interested in using this as a guide to painting one of the aircraft involved he will find this an excellent reference (5 star if this is your goal). There are about 10 pages of color plates and detailed non-picture illustrations that would be excellent for model builders.