Postwar Air Weapons: 1945-Present (Essential Weapons Identification Guides) Hardcover – August 1, 2011

Hi amazonians!I have been looking for a book on this subject for decades! Finally, it has arrived and it is a comprehensive and well organized work about the important and major air delivered weapons since 1945. To my knowledge, this is currently the only book of its kind available, so I cannot draw any comparisons. I am very satisfied. This book is fun to read, and the featured weapons have data specifications that include: weapon length, fuselage diameter, wingspan, launch weight, warhead weight/type, range, speed, powerplant, guidance system. The text of the book covers development history, how the specific weapons were used, how they worked, and what nations used them during what conflicts. Plus the extra interesting stuff like nuclear yields, kill charts, and beautiful drawings. ALL IN ONE BOOK! The book is divided into categories: AAM (air to air), ASM (air to surface), AShM (anti-ship), AT (anti-tank), Bombs, and air-launched rockets; and each section moves along historically, covering each period (wars). I am more than halfway through this book, and I just LoL. I recommend! Thnx.Sincerelycarpodacus

The title should rather read: Postwar Air-launched Weapons.The booksize is 25x20 cm, a bit unsual. This book has an excellent print quality, a very dense text, although the font size seems a bit too big, especially compared with the Spec tables.The quality of the colored drawings of the missiles is outstanding. Each device has a Specification table, which unfortunatly misses the manufacturing country and company, as well as the yield for nuclear free fall bombs, those data having to be found inside the main text.One of the highlight is a 6 pages index in very small prints, extremely detailed and complete, as well as a glossary, a must to read this kind of text, heavily relying on acronyms.The book is organized in 7 chapters, by weapon type and chronologically, each chapter also account for the combat results, when applicable. This is a rare feature. This data is presented as detailed 'kill' tables, most of the time having each fighting side represented, except for the 6 days war, Yom Kippur, where some adverse kills are mentionned in the text, but no complete table is shown. This prevents a good aprehension of the relative efficiency of each side's weaponry in this instance.One must keep in mind that only air-launched missiles are referred to in this book, excuding all ground-launched ones or submarine-launched ones.A reference book worth to have.

This book not only fills in a gap that has existed for years, but also gives detailed info about the hardware, the conflicts it was used in, and the countries that make it. One can see the different types of weapons, the advancement over the years and how far in development have the different countries advanced. I recommend this book to anyone who is into these things. It is a 'must have' because so far, it is the only book out on that topic. Enough has been written about planes, ships, armor, arms, etc, but never about missiles, rockets and bombs.

The book is extremely disappointing in that it isn't consistent in which statistics it includes for each weapon of the same type or even the measurement unit. For example one missile's speed is measured in km per hour, another feet per second and another in nautical miles. You'd think that a reference book would be consistent in those matters but not so here. It's kind of lazy.

"Postwar Air Weapons" has proven to be a useful addition to my library. Sadly, the only mark against the book is on the dust jacket -- front left-hand upper corner. A missile is identified as a AS-11 antiradar missile but is the AS.11 antitank missile. The photographs tend to be fault-free, most of the drawings are good (except as noted), technical data appear right on target, and the descriptions of the various air weapons are good. I am fussy about accuracy, but I still like this book. You will too.

Great for information, data and illustrations for bombs, anti-tank, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. Includes both the earliest semi-experimental examples of AAMs and smart munitions as well as bleeding edge equipment. My only gripe is the complete lack of coverage on aerial guns which involved just as much in the postwar period.

Could have done with more technical information on individual weapons.

This book fills I think a need felt by all aviation enthusiasts in what concerns a readily available book with the necessary information, and easy to find, about all kind of air launched waepons.Further, and very interestingly, also mentions their use in actual combat conditions with the results obtained in terms of shot down targets . All in all a very useful guide

A rare book, that would be prefect if up dated, never the less a great book better than newer ones.

7 capitoli:missili aria-ariamissili aria-superficiemissili anti-carrobomberazzi aviolanciatibombe a grappoloLa cosa che mi è piaciuta di più sono gli specchietti con gli abbattimenti in specifici teatri con l'indicazione del missile usato e degli aerei coinvolti (non ho però raffrontato i dati con altre fonti per capire se siano attendibili); sono anche belli i disegni delle armi. Il libro però è poco "strutturato e sistematico" per i miei gusti; più adatto ad una lettura curiosa ma non molto pratico se lo vuoi consultare per cercare informazioni su di una specifica arma. Spesso si riduce a poche righe e ad un piccolo riquadro con le specifiche base (approfondimento minimi ma le pagine sono proprio poche per la mole di armi trattate, 185 escludendo glossario e indice). Il libro ha un formato compatto e la presenza dei disegni, di qualche foto e specchietti vari limita molto le informazioni presenti.L'organizzazione per momenti storici o teatri di operazione dei primi capitoli non giova particolarmente; se cerco informazioni sul Sidewinder le trovo in diversi paragrafi: Early cold war AAMs (due pagine); AAM in theTaiwan crisis (1 pagina); AAMs of the 1960s and 1970s (4 pagine); AAMs in vietnam, etc. Avrei preferito un paragrafo dedicato ad ogni singola arma con condensate le medesime informazioni (comunque scarse). Personalmente lo posso consigliare sopratutto a chi è praticamente digiuno di informazioni in materia. Una pubblicazione di facile lettura con una impaginazione curata e piacevole ma non particolarmente approfondita.

As a model builder and rocketry enthusiest (I build and fly high power rockets ,as well as small rockets) I found this a handy little reference book ,and altough it is not complete and indepth as it pertains to measurements for scale purposes, it is indeed a nice book to look through and learn a little about missile systems.As a builder and flyer of scale rockets and missiles you can never have too many resources and this fills in some gaps as well as giving some new ideas as to my next build.The missile renderings a well done ,although not very detailed as per markings ,but that`s fine with me.There really are not too many books out there that cover rockets anf missiles ,so i`m very happy to have seen this book and to have bought it.Overall ,a very nice book and happy to have it in my collection !Paul T

Im Gegensatz zu Thomas Newdick's Buch Modern Military Airpower 1990 - Present ist die vorliegende Veröffentlichung wesentlich besser gelungen. Ähnlich sauber und geordnet aufgebaut wie das andere Buch des Verfassers, geht es hier wirklich rundum sachlich vonstatten, wenn man einen Überblick zu den luftgestützten Waffensystemen nach 1945 sucht. Postwar Air Weapons 1945 - Present glänzt durch eine Vielzahl von Informationen, gut gemachten artworks, praktisch ausgesuchten Fotos und ergänzenden, sehr interessanten Tabellen sowie technischen Daten zu den jeweiligen Systemen. Hier gibt es auch nicht unzählige Wiederholungen an technischen Angaben und man liest gern weiter, um mehr zu erfahren. Guides zu den behandelten Waffensystemen gab es in jüngerer Vergangenheit relativ selten, das Buch kommt somit zur rechten Zeit und darf als sehr informativ bezeichnet werden. Gerade noch verschmerzen lassen sich bei der Fülle von Angaben, Bildern und Daten auch einige fehlende Einträge wie z.B. die Langstrecken-Luftkampfrakete KS-172, die argentinische Luft-Boden-Lenkwaffe Pescador, der chinesische Marschflugkörper C-101 oder die Anti-Schiffs-Rakete Petrel aus den USA und nicht zuletzt von Flugzeugen und Helis aus der Luft einsetzbare Torpedos oder andere kleinere Fehler wie etwa die gleich zweimal auf den Seiten 18 und 19 auftauchende F-7E(FN) Crusader - gemeint ist die F-8E(FN). Alles in allem lohnt sich das knapp 200 Seiten starke Buch mit nochmal so vielen Farbzeichnungen für jeden, der zu dem Thema einen Überblick haben oder mehr dazu erfahren möchte.

Dieses Buch enthält solide Eckdaten* über so gut wie ALLES, was seit '45 von Flugzeugen aus abgeworfen oder -geschossen wurde. Als solches steht es meines Wissens völlig allein da und ist daher ein Muss in der Bibliothek eines jeden (Militär-)Luftfahrtkenners.This book contains basic* data about practially EVERYTHING that has been dropped or launched out of aircraft since '45. As such, as far as I know it stands alone among all books and therefore is a must-have in the library of any (military) aviation affectionado.*natürlich nicht die tiefesten Details über jeden noch so obskuren MFK, aber man will das Buch ja auch noch hochheben können.*naturally, not all the deepest details about every ever-so obscure CM, but on the plus side it's possible to lift this book with one hand.