Product Description

This is the third volume in the Tom Clancy Military Library. It looks at a US Air Force combat wing - the planes, the technology and the people. Other volumes include "Submarine: A Guided Tour of a Nuclear Warship" and "Armoured Warfare: A Guided Tour of an Armoured Cavalry Regiment".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #707059 in Books
• Published on: 1996-08-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Review
Into the wild blue yonder with Clancy as a knowledgeable, even solicitous, escort. As he did in earlier disquisitions on the silent service (Submarine, 1993) and armored cavalry, the author of bestselling technothrillers offers a detailed handbook on one of America's nonpareil military units. Before getting down to brass tacks on the outfit in question (the Air Force's 366th Composite Wing), however, he provides a detailed survey of air power from the time a venturesome Italian pilot first bombed Libyan rebels in 1912 down to the Star Wars present. His crash course encompasses aerodynamics, airframes, avionics, ordnance, power plants, radar, sensors, and a host of allied subjects. He assesses the flying machines themselves and covers guidance systems that make smart bombs of general-purpose munitions, electronic countermeasures, antiradiation missiles, and tomorrow's hardware. In the final third of his informed text, Clancy profiles the 366th, an elite group based in Mountain Home, Idaho, which combines tactical fighters, B1-B bombers, and logistical aircraft in a single self-contained wing that can be rapidly deployed to combat zones or trouble spots in the furthest reaches of the world. Having reviewed the 366th's history (which dates back to WW II's European theater) and current operations, he follows the so-called Gunfighters as they participate in a brutally realistic exercise at Nevada's Nellis AFB in 1994. For a crowd-pleasing windup, Clancy calls on his considerable skills as a novelist to deliver a vividly plausible account of how the 366th might be employed during a potentially explosive crisis in Southeast Asia circa 2000. Complete with a wealth of line drawings, maps, and photos, verbatim interviews with top Air Force officers, and cogent explanations of high-tech hardware and latter-day doctrine, a most attractive package for armchair air marshals or taxpayers interested in what sort of bangs they're getting for their aviation bucks. (Kirkus Reviews)

Customer Reviews

Marvellous book; technical but modern and very rewarding
This is a tremendous book for those seriously intersted in modern airforce and airpower. Clancy's obvious deep knowledge of the American military is finally applied to the USAF. He introduces the reader to the recent developments in jet engines, weapons and tactics, frequently in great detail which can be off putting. It is best dipped into rather than read from cover-to-cover. As ever though his story telling nature comes through making the tale of the development of the US Air Force since the Gulf War an intriguing and gripping one. The only downside is the naturalfocus solely upon the American forces; a similar book on the RAF would be fabulous.

A Wing in need of a Prayer.
The title is misleading, but explained later in the book. tom Clancy has put together his military (and political) interest to creatate a nearly full account of the USAF's principal power. Fighter wing is only understood in the context of the newly ordered ACC command which incorporates other aircraft as well as fighters. everything for the beginner is covered, from what a jet engine is, to each individual missile system. There is only a part dedicated to the planes, the rest being a build up on the weapons and sceneraios that might be encountered.

The book is now dated as there have been more wars in islamic countries that prove the focus of the reorganised USAF were not completely well thought out. the bias on Americas ability to win wars in the air as in the GUlf war, then to do the same on the ground seem wildly optimistic now. the might of the USAF is mentioned, but not to full effect. the fact that the USAF have nmore planes than all the airlines in the USA put together is left out, and Tom Clancy seems to hold out a beggsrs bowl asking for more develpoments of stealth planes. Is this because making less of them is less exciting?

The planes are such as the F-15,c and e, the F-16c and d, the b-1b and B-2. SDtranggely KC-135s and E-3s are given the same treatment in detail, yet F-117s and F-111s not. later comes a strategy review, and two scenarios of beattle that are somewhat near the truth.

ther question about the USAs power and training eclipsing that of smalller nations (UK and Israel) is final, and probably correct in the book; though such types as the Su-27 family of fighters having out run F-15s in Indian maneuvors are left aside. Whether the USAF is the all powerful force here descibed is doubtful, though I pray than can remain so.

A Wing in need of a Prayer.
Tom Clancy probably wrote most of this book, as the style keeps you engrossed even when he writes about missiles and bombs rather than what a Fighter wing is all about, FIGHTERS. And there the title fits no more, as the book is about other things than Fighters, it starts with Air power as a concept, and soon gets onto what a jet engine is and how to get one started, then a review of SOME USAF planes. The particular types reviewed are not all fighters, and then again not all that the USAF has to offer at the time of writing. Is it then that there is only a focus on the more exciting types rather than what there really is?

In this way the book clips along, with the word "several" cropping up many times to cover some missing details. the whole focus is on how positively the USAF is developing, without any of the clitches (to put it mildly) that misplaced bombs have caused. "Every bomb is a political bomb" is a statement to back up many of the concepts and systems (i.e. bombs!) described here.

the systems covered are the fighters of the Air Force (F-15c and e, the F-16c and the F-22), then come Bombers (B-1b and B-2) and then the tankers (Strato tankers and Extenders) and then the bombs! F-111 are mentioned in the background, but no system diagrams are present as for the others (By "Jack Ryan Enterprises"- a joke for Tom Clancy fans?) and the logic are describing bombers in a book called "Fighter Wing" then misses the A-10.

that said, the ground covered is pretty vast,linking in how the Air Force matches their Navy and marine counterparts, and how a few other air focres like the RAF have bought the precision bomb guidance systems to make them comparable in a VERY limited way to the vast potential of the USAF. facts that are astounding about the USAF are there, but others such as the fact that the USAF have as many planes as all the airlines in the USA put together, are left out. Still, he conveys the idea that all has been planned in the size of the force to take on whatever mighty power comes into conflict with Americas interests.

the Gulf War is covered in all sections, including the fictious scenarios at the end when the USAF goes to war against enemies in Asia in the early 21st Century. If only Clancy had waited a bit, themn he could have described what really happened in these wars! it would appear, with hindsight that we now have, the weapons and tactics described were fully unable to match the new found enemies in post Saddam Iraq (against Saddam they were uniquely effective) and Afganistan.

So for those who need to know about bunker bustinga nd how to go about it in a powerful fighter-bomber, heres your book. Biased it is, and if you believe evcrything written here then you would never think that an F-15 is a hanger-queen or that US foreign policy could ever be WRONG! Vietnam is referred to as a testing groung for newly developed precision guided weapons, an dperhaps that is the best th
ing that America can salvage from that lost war. According to this book that war was not really lost.