Rolling Thunder: Jet Combat from WWII to the Gulf War

by Ivan Rendall

To the victor goes the skies...

Jet aviation began as a dynamic, if underutilized, part of a desperate race between Hitler's scientists and the Allies. Today it is an indispensable component of warfare: space-age machines, incredibly skilled pilots, and weaponry that thinks for itself. Today's top guns strap themselves into electronic-crammed cockpits, hurtle billion-dollar aircraft against concussive G-forces, evade radar behind electronic cloaks, and fire weapons with deadly pinpoint control. In this dramatic, action-packed history, we witness Allied propeller planes dogfighting German Me 262 jets at the end of World War II; America's first jet aces making kills in Korea; the Israeli Air Force's stunning victory against its Arab neighbors and Soviet planes; and the feat of the British Harrier force in the Falklands. From Vietnam to the Gulf War, Rolling Thunder tells a story of tactics, innovations, breakthroughs, and battles, as fighting men and machines push each other to the edge--and beyond....

Genres: History, Military Fiction

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 19, 1999

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved reading this book- and think it's a great addition to the Air Power canon - but I have to say I marked it down for the lack of any content about the Indo Pakistan wars, wars that certainly featured a lot of Jet to Jet Combat. Aside from that, Ivan Rendall, a former Jet Pilot himself, a journalist and writer on Military Aviation, gives a great popular history of Jet combat in the 20th Century, or as it says on the dust jacket "from WWII to the Gulf War". The book came out in 1997 and is a look back, but Rendall does a great job of establishing through lines of thought- Jets v. Prop planes, Straight Wings v Swept, Machine guns v Cannon v Missiles, ground control v, independent aggressive air control, Interceptor v Long Range Fighter, one vs two crew, SAMs v Air, Air V SAMS, Visual v Radar, and one engine v. two- among a myriad of other considerations like annual budgets and political convulsions. Rendall takes us through the Cold War when the two sides, NATO/SEATO and the Warsaw Pact and/or China (not a monolith- but sharing some doctrines and tendencies) approached air combat differently. Air Defence a cabinet level organisation in Soviet Russia and China, with a focus on numbers and cheaper technology- Militaries in the "west" going for fewer more capable aircraft- with much more highly trained and paid crews, both in the air on on the ground. Then he shows you how it played out- and then the short post Cold War world he saw. I loved every minute of it -although I really wanted that Indo-Pak war content- and missed it.
I thought the author was great at explaining the Generations of fighters and their ascending capability, both aeronautic and electronic. Rendall also explains how the actual war applications of the technology did not always match the reasons or capabilities for which it had been created. Weapons created for a Massive Nuclear War, delivering nukes or shooting down bombers were suddenly applied to fighting Jet Attack planes and fighters. He also revolves the dialogue around the idea of Air Superiority- and how it can be achieved militarily. The jumps in technique from the Korean War to Vietnam to the Arab Israeli Wars to the Falklands war to the Gulf War and then to the Kosovo Operation are all discussed in proper depth for a popular history- although professionals may want even more. I found the narrative quite compelling and learned a few things about some conflicts I thought understood well enough. Many of his future projections have come to pass, so I found the author a credible source on this expanded topic.
There are few adult themes in this book - and the topic is well enough explained that a Junior reader over about 12/13 with an aviation interest should be able to get a lot out of this book. I think there is a lot of Meat here for the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast- a ton of content that will aid in Scenario/Diorama Development. Rendall is good at describing raids, missions, encounters, and combats- and has included a few key B/W shots of planes, combats and characters- but not many maps. On the other hand- I think any regular Blood Red Sky -Jets or Team Yankee/Nam the Game/Fate of A Nation/Oil War will get a much better understanding of modern Air to Air , Air to Ground, and Ground to Air warfare after reading this book. I also think it is a good book for the average reader as well - as Rendall stops to explain jargon and acronyms often enough for the most novice military history buff. A strong recommendation for any Cold War Library.