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A comprehensive history of the Sixth Fleet, detailing its role in the Mediterranean from post-World War II through the Cold War to recent conflicts and interventions.The Sixth Fleet has projected the naval power of the United States into the Mediterranean for over 70 years. This work covers the history of the fleet from its inception after the Second World War, through the Cold War, to the War on Terror and the Ukrainian crisis.The Sixth Fleet was created in response to the need for a strong naval force in the Mediterranean Sea to counter the danger posed to the countries bordering the Mediterranean by the naval forces of the former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries, whose presence threatened the commercial traffic through the Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, and the Black Sea. In recent decades, several US government departments have considered eliminating the Fleet, but the events in Ukraine in 2022 demonstrated the ongoing need for such a naval force as a deterrent.The book lists most aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, submarines, transports, and other support vessels that have been part of the Fleet. It also contains an essential chapter on the US Marine Corps elements, which have always been part of the Fleet. It also describes the aircraft embarked on aircraft carriers and landing ships. Finally, there is a chapter describing all the Fleet's interventions supporting Allied countries, including interventions in areas affected by natural disasters.The Sixth Fleet is a powerful naval force that has proven its utility as a deterrent.

Reconstructs the infamous New Year assault on Grozny, detailing the chaotic defeat of Russian forces through veteran accounts, research, and footage.The New Year assault on Grozny by Russian forces was the most famous and controversial action of the 1st Chechen War. Entering Grozny from four directions, Russian troops with poor knowledge of the city and totally unprepared found themselves trapped, isolated and annihilated by numerous Chechen detachments. Unfortunately, due to the complexity and chaotic nature of the events, almost no official documentation exists. The reconstruction of the assault has been created from numerous veteran accounts, research publications, and video footage. Battle for Grozny is the first attempt to present a complete picture to the English-speaking audience.At first, the resistance offered by Chechens on 31 December 1994 had been relatively moderate and sporadic. All Russian forces besides the Group West managed to reach their objectives way before the planned timeline. The 131st Separate Motor-Rifle Brigade received a controversial order to move towards the railway station. With no knowledge of Grozny and never having trained for urban combat, the Brigade moved in and reached the station by noon, meeting the 81st Motor-Rifle Regiment. In the late afternoon, Chechens started to hammer Russian forces from multiple directions, knocking out the armor one by one. Trying to organize defensive lines, both units were suffering heavy casualties while all relief efforts were completely blocked by Chechens. During the night and the next day most of the Russian units left Grozny with disastrous losses in men and materiel. On the morning of 1 January, Russian aviation mistakenly attacked the positions of the 129th Motor-Rifle Regiment with devastating results - making it the worst friendly fire incident of the entire war. The only Group that managed to hold their positions was that of General Lev Rokhlin, who skillfully organized the defenses of the city hospital and cannery plant, leaving a narrow corridor for reinforcements.Battle for Grozny, Volume 2, is based on numerous little-known publications, veterans' accounts from both sides, extensive pictorial and video footage, and focuses on the reconstruction of the events that happened over two days of a New Year.

Examines the development of Soviet legacy MBTs by Ukraine in the post-Soviet era into models including the Bulat and Oplot, and the refurbishment and modernization of T-64, T-72 and T-80 models.The two largest heirs to the massive Soviet tank force that faced NATO during the Cold War - Russia and Ukraine - have been fighting one another since 2014 in what has now become the largest war in Europe since 1945.Volume 5 of the War in Ukraine series examines the development of Soviet legacy MBTs by Ukraine in the post- Soviet era into models including the Bulat and Oplot, and the refurbishment and modernization of T-64, T-72 and T-80 models to meet the need to respond to the war ongoing since 2014. Furthermore, this volume examines the organization and training of the opposed Russian and Ukrainian MBT forces and presents a number of case studies of their employment since 2014. The volume is completed with appendices on Explosive Reactive Armor as used in its various forms in this conflict, and the various types of 125mm gun ammunition and gun-launched anti-tank guided missiles used by both sides.This volume, extensively illustrated with full color images, is essential reading for the reader interested in post-Soviet Ukrainian MBT design, and the forces employed by both sides in the current war in Ukraine. The full history of the Russo-Ukrainian War remains to be written, but this book aims to at least give a background and a glimpse into one particular aspect of the war, as well as the role the MBT has played in the largest war of the twenty-first century so far.

The book describes the Bosnian Serb Army in the Bosnian War 1992-1995. It provides a detailed account on organization, personnel, equipment and combat activities during the years of war. It covers the transfer parts of the Yugoslav People's Army into Vojske Republike Srpske 1992, the initial operations and offensives in 1992-1993 ('Koridor', Jajce, Podrinje, Trnovo). Short overview of the other warring parties: Army of BiH, Croatian Council of Defense, Army of Western Bosnia, UNPROFOR and NATO Rapid Reaction Force. The book shall outline the development of the VRS organisation, list the equipment and problems in the command chain. It shall follow with the descriptions of the operations in 1994 (Gorazde, Bihac Pocket, wider Sarajevo) and 1995 (Sarajevo, Western Krajina, Srebrenica, Zepa, Drvar and Banja Luka). The book discusses further NATO involvement through the air attacks in 1994/95, deployment of the Rapid Reaction Force and finally, Operation Deliberated Force which led to the wider, Croat-Muslim offensive causing the end of the war under the auspices of the US shuttle diplomat R. Holbrooke. The final chapter examines the influence of the Dayton accord, Paris peace treaty, deployment of the IFOR, Implementation Force and demilitarizing of the warring parties.

The U.S. Army's permanent opposing forces can trace their origins to 1946, when the Army stood up the fictional 'Circle Trigonist' aggressor force based loosely on Second World War German and Soviet forces, which gradually morphed into a more Soviet type of opponent for Army exercises as the Cold War progressed. While there were no dedicated aggressor units, the Army established unique doctrine, tactics, uniforms, and even used the Esperanto language to create a common 'enemy' for the entire Army to train against.It was only after the Vietnam War that the Army established a lasting, dedicated opposing force to ensure the Army trained as it expected to fight in the next war. First established at the National Training Center (NTC) in California's Death Valley in 1982, the professional OPFOR now comprises: - The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at NTC is a brigade-sized unit that can replicate a low-level urban insurgency or an entire Soviet-style armored division;- The 1st Battalion, 509th Airborne Infantry at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) Louisiana that specializes in replicating low-intensity conflicts for light infantry and special operations forces;- The 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry, a combined arms unit at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Germany that provides an adaptable enemy for U.S. and allied forces to train against in Europe.Each OPFOR unit has unique uniforms, emblems and vehicles to help it portray an enemy force with some fidelity. Each Combat Training Center provides a unique and challenging environment for the training of visiting U.S. and allied units.The Army OPFOR provides an aggressive, challenging force with which to test tactics, techniques, readiness and equipment in a simulated combat environment, where units are tracked real-time and lasers are used to determine hits and kills. Observer/controllers provide feedback to the units being trained, helping them to identify and correct shortcomings.The experiences provided by the OPFOR contributed significantly to the decisive victories in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and provided a pre-deployment crucible for units deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan's subsequent insurgencies. All three units continue in this role today, adapting to accurately portray terrorists, hybrid semi-state groups, and near-peer state adversaries.

"The War in Ukraine series continues to be an excellent source of information on events from 2014 leading up to the current conflict between Russia and the Ukraine." -- AMPSThe two largest heirs to the massive Soviet tank force that faced NATO during the Cold War - Russia and Ukraine - have been fighting one another since 2014 in what has now become the largest war in Europe since 1945. Volume 4 of the War in Ukraine series examines the common legacy of Soviet main battle tanks (MBTs) inherited by both sides in this conflict and the evolution of three models in a relatively short space of time with nominally similar characteristics: the T-64, T-72, and T-80. Drawing upon Russian and Ukrainian source material not often examined in the West, this book looks into the design history of these models and their relative strengths and weaknesses, and challenges a number of common myths circulating about these MBTs from the days of the Cold War up to the present. This book then goes on to examine the evolution of these models in Russian service in the post-Soviet era, including the T-90, and Russian attempts to upgrade their MBT technologies.This volume, extensively illustrated with full color images, is essential reading for the reader interested in late Soviet, and post-Soviet Russian MBT design, and the forces employed in the current war in Ukraine. The full history of the Russo- Ukrainian War remains to be written, but this book aims to at least give a background and a glimpse into one particular aspect of the war, as well as the role the MBT has played in the largest war of the twenty-first century so far.Volume 5 will continue the story of Post-Soviet Ukrainian MBT development and the use of MBTs by both sides in the current war.

The first in a two-volume illustrated history of the coup that brought down the dictatorial regime that had been in power for over 40 years in Portugal.On 25 April 1974, a movement of young captains brought down, with practically no resistance, the dictatorial regime that had been in power for over 40 years in Portugal. In the early hours of that day, a military movement unleashed a series of operations that, in less than 24 hours, defeated the forces loyal to the regime, neutralizing any possibility of reaction. Few forces resisted the insurgents, and the only resistance worthy of note came from the political police, who in the heat of the revolution opened fire on the surrounding crowd causing four deaths.In the streets of Lisbon, the people enthusiastically joined the military revolt and started offering food, drinks, and red carnations to the soldiers, who decided to stick them in the barrels of their rifles, leading to the revolt being known as the Carnation Revolution. Although it began with a military coup d'état, 25 April paved the way for democracy, and there is no comparison to other similar revolutions. It was also a unique event in the European context of the time that broke Portugal's isolation and brought it closer to other Western democracies.This book is the first in a two-volume history. It describes the background to the revolution, the causes that led to the revolt of the captains and the situation in the Portuguese colonies in Africa, where guerrilla wars for their independence had been going on for more than a decade. Carnation Revolution Volume 1: The Road to the Coup that Changed Portugal is richly illustrated with photographs and specially commissioned artworks.

This book focuses on the armed formations of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), one of the two separatist entities in the east of Ukraine. It provides an overview of their formation in 2014 and the status up to the end of February 2022.

From the first days of the Operation to Restore Constitutional Order, Russian forces became involved in extremely bloody fighting with well-trained and well-equipped Chechen militants.

This book examines the military aspects of the 'Cyprus Problem', which in 1963-1974 escalated into a major international crisis, a Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and a near-war between Greece and Turkey.

This book describes the conflict between Tito's Yugoslav Army and the Soviet and other satellite armies, that lasted between 1948 and 1954; the first major conflict within the communist bloc.

Chasing the Soft Underbelly examins the role of Turkey during the Second World War. While usually a footnote in histories of this conflict, Turkey featured highly in the strategies of the combatants. This book offers an in-depth insight into the position of the country and its armed forces before, and throughout the war.

MiG-21s formed the backbone of the Yugoslav Air Force and Air Defence Force and later the Serbian Air Force. This book is based upon the author's extensive research in archives and interviews with veterans that flew this type. Most of the photos in this volume have never been published before.

While most famous for its U-2 penetration flights over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the People's Republic of China, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated a large number of 'other' types of intelligence-gathering aircraft, or specially modified aircraft for operations beyond the Iron Curtain from the mid-1940s.

A complete and updated description (2021) of everything that forms part of the Spanish Ejército del Aire (EA): its history (193-2021), aircraft and helicopters, combat and transport air units, air bases, air defense, means of support, weapons, pilots and other technical personnel, international missions, aeronautical industry, and the future.

The title focuses on the armed formations of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the largest of the two separatist entities in the east of Ukraine. It provides an overview of their formation in 2014, present status, and combat equipment, while also exploring issues around identity and symbology.

Within a period of just 15 years Soviet air defenses progressed from AA guns and piston engine fighters to SAMs and missile-armed Mach 2 interceptors. This is the story of how this remarkable progress was achieved and how these assets performed in actual combat against foreign aircraft violating Soviet air space.

The first operational history of three US Navy destroyer escorts and their crews at the height of the Cold War below, on and above the Mediterranean Sea.

The story of the 24/7 nuclear alert maintained by the Strategic Air Command of the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War.

Exclusive cross-examination of the major air war fought over Serbia in 1999, providing detailed reconstructions of air combats between F-15s, F-16s and MiG-29s.

An authoritative, richly illustrated summary on the major confrontation of four superpowers over the city of Berlin, including the Berlin Airlift, in 1945-1949.

Guiding the reader meticulously through the details of the forces involved, their organisation and equipment, Operation Danube offers a uniquely in-depth, blow-by-blow account of the invasion of Czechoslovakia and is profusely illustrated with more than 100 photos, maps, and exclusive colour artworks.

'Tito's Underground Air Base' is lavishly illustrated with exclusive photographs from numerous archives, museums, and private collections, and a set of authentic colour profiles and diagrams. It is a unique source of reference about one of most fascinating projects related to underground military facilities constructed during the Cold War.

The 'JRVIPVO in Yugoslav War' is the first ever authoritative account of combat operations of the former Yugoslav Air Force in the conflict that shaped the modern-day southern Europe.

'The Hunt for the U-2' is a succinct operational history of the confrontations between that reconnaissance aircraft and those trying to catch it and the impact these operations had in not so distant history. Richly illustrated with photographs and full colour aircraft profiles.

A detailed study of the early Cold War development and operations of the Bulgarian Air Force. It covers the entire spectrum of counter air operations undertaken by the Bulgarian air arm between 1946 and 1960, including the tragic downing of El Al Flight 402.