Afghan Air Wars: Soviet, US and NATO Operations, 1979 - 2021

Both the geography of Afghanistan and the military situation in the region meant that airpower played a vital role in all of the various campaigns. Although aircraft had been involved in Afghanistan since 1919, the soviet invasion brought with it the large-scale use of helicopters and fighter=bomber aircraft, as well as air transport to keep their army supplied and reinforced. However, the Soviet efforts were surpassed by the massive deployment of US-led Coalition air forces in the 2000s. With 20 years of improved technology and recent combat experience in Iraq and the Balkans, Coalition airpower was a formidable force: an extensive intelligence-gathering capability was backed by delivery platforms for precision-guided munitions. Despite wielding this impressive firepower, the Coalition presence in Afghanistan still came to an ignominious end with an evacuation airlift — repeating the experience of the British just over 100 years earlier.

Richly illustrated with over 240 images, both official photos and previously unpublished privately taken, in-theatre images, Afghan Air Wars also includes first-hand accounts by aircrews involved to create a unique and comprehensive picture of the part played by air power over Afghanistan in the last 40 years.