Air Force: Inside the New Era of Australian Air Power - Softcover

A revealing look at the Royal Australian Air Force in war and peace since the East Timor crisis in 999, from bombing raids over Bagdad and logistic support in Afghanistan, to surveillance, reconnaissance and humanitarian missions all over the world. Award-winning journalist and best-selling author Ian McPhedran takes us on another exclusive journey, this time to the heart of the RAAF through personal stories of fighter pilots' bombing raids over Iraq, hi-tech spy planes over Afghanistan, the operational nerve centre of the Middle East war and the men and women who deliver humanitarian aid and alleviate suffering around the world. This is the compelling narrative in the RAAF's 90th year of its aircraft, traditions and personalities, from the corridors of power in Canberra to far-flung bases around Australia and the world, in more than a decade of rapid change as technology propels it into the next generation of air power and the futuristic era of stealth. It is a must-read not only for aviation and military buffs or those who are curious about what the RAAF has been doing since 999, but for anyone who has glanced skywards at the sound of an air force plane passing overhead. We know a lot about what the army has been up to since East Timor in 999, but what about the Air Force? Air power was a key deterrent during the 999 East Timor crisis, when F- s were sent to Tindal in the Northern Territory and used for reconnaissance flights over the island. The RAAF has been very busy on operations around the world, from F/A- 8 Hornet fighters dropping bombs on Saddam's palaces in Baghdad to Hercules C- 30 and huge C- 7 transport planes supporting war fighting and humanitarian missions all over the globe. Then there are the P-3 Orion spy planes flying clandestine night missions throughout the Middle East or using their high-tech imaging equipment to find lost yachtsmen in the Southern Ocean. Featuring unpublished and previously secret material, including bomb camera imagery.

Ian McPhedran is a journalist and has covered conflicts in Burma, Somalia, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 1993 he won a United Nations Association peace media award and in 1999 the Walkley award for best news report for his expose of the navy's Collins class submarine fiasco. He is the author of The Amazing SAS: The Inside Story of Australia's Special Forces.