Libyan Air WarsPart 1: 1973–1985

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Weight 0.500 kg
Dimensions 29.7 × 21.0 × 0.4 cm
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ISBN9781909982390 Barcode9781909982390
Overview
Between 1973 and 1989, various Western powers and Libya were entangled in a seemingly never-ending exchange of blows. Supposedly launched in retaliation for one action or the other, this confrontation resulted in a number of high-profile, even though low-scale, clashes between the Libyan Arab Air Force (LAAF), the US Navy and even the French.

Between 1973 and 1989, various Western powers and Libya were entangled in a seemingly never-ending exchange of blows. Supposedly launched in retaliation for one action or the other, this confrontation resulted in a number of high-profile, even though low-scale, clashes between the Libyan Arab Air Force (LAAF), the
US Navy and even the French. Meanwhile, almost as a sideshow, the LAAF – quantitatively one of the most potent air forces in North Africa and the Middle East – also saw intensive deployment in Chad. Initially, with sporadic fighting between different parties for the control of N’Djamena, the Chadian capital, this conflict eventually turned into a major war when Libya invaded the country outright. The LAAF deployed not only French-made Mirage but also Soviet-made fighter-bombers of MiG and Sukhoi design, Mil-designed helicopters and even bombers of Tupolev design, to establish her dominance over the extensive battlefield of the Sahara Desert.

Because of the Cold War but also due to confrontation with Libya over a number of other issues, France – a one-time major arms supplier to Libya – and the USA gradually got dragged into the war. Deployments of their troops and intelligence services in Chad, Egypt and the Sudan never resulted in a full-scale war against Libya, but time and again culminated in small-scale aerial operations that proved crucial to developments on the ground, several of which are still a matter of extensive debate.

Detailing not only the aerial operations but the ground war and the geo-political background of these conflicts, and illustrated with over 100 contemporary photographs, maps and all-new colour profiles, this volume provides a unique insight into an otherwise completely forgotten conflict that raged from the skies over the southern Mediterranean to southern Chad and northern Sudan, yet one that not only represented a formative period of the LAAF, but which also prompted a number of crucial modifications and developments in France and the USA.

Tom Cooper, Albert Grandolini & Arnaud Delalande

Tom Cooper, from Austria, is a military-aviation journalist and historian. Following a career in a worldwide transportation business – where, during his extensive travels in Europe and the Middle East, he established excellent contacts with many first-hand sources – he moved into writing. An earlier fascination with post-World War II military-aviation has narrowed to focus on smaller air forces and conflicts, about which he has collected extensive archives of material. Concentrating primarily on air warfare, which has previously received scant attention, he specializes in investigative research on little-known African and Arab air forces, as well as the Iranian air force. Cooper has published 14 books –including the unique ‘African MiGs’ series which examines the deployment and service history of MiG and Sukhoi jet fighters in 23 sub-Saharan African air forces– as well as over 200 articles on related topics, providing a window into a number of previously unexamined yet fascinating conflicts and relevant developments. He is a regular contributor to the Africa@War series.

Albert Grandolini was born in South Vietnam and has an MA in history from the Sorbonne. He specializes in Asian military history as well as contemporary conflicts in general. He is author of Fall of the Flying Dragon, South Vietnamese Air Force (1973-1975) and Armor of the Vietnam War: the Asian Forces. He is a regular contributor to numerous British, French and German magazines, such as Air Enthusiast, Flieger Revue Extra, Fana de l’Aviation, Tank Zone and Batailles et Blindés, as well as to the Air Combat Information Group (ACIG)website and Au Delà de la Colline, a French website devoted to the lesser-known themes in military history, and the Khmer Air Force website devoted to the history of the former Cambodian Air Force (1954-1975).

Arnaud Delalande is a researcher and author from Tours, in France. Military history and the history of military aviation in particular, especially deployment of air power in Africa and in former French colonies, have long been his passion. He is the editor of Puisance Aérienne (airpower.over-blog.com) and contributes to Alliance Geostrategique (alliancegeostrategique.org). He has become one of few foreigners with a deep interest in the recent Chadian wars, as well as French military operations in that country. He has published several related articles in specialized French magazines.

Additional information

Weight 0.500 kg
Dimensions 29.7 × 21.0 × 0.4 cm
Format

Pages

Size

Publisher30 Degrees South Publishers Publication Date02/02/2015

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