Book Review of
Fifth Generation Fighters
The World’s Most Dangerous Combat Aircraft
Author: David Baker
Tempest Books
ISBN: 978-1911658597
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2021
MSRP: $37.99
ISBN: 978-1911658597
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2021
MSRP: $37.99
The latest jet fighters deceive, evade, confuse, lock-on their targets and kill them without being seen, heard or detected. Pilots can increasingly put themselves outside their cockpit, peering beyond visual range, leaving the aircraft to keep them out of harm’s way while they manage the mission.
Fifth Generation Fighters explains how net-centric warfare and sensor fusion takes the fight into the very heart of the weapons systems computer, tracking up to 100 hostiles and downing many beyond visual range. Future fighters will connect to satellites, control swarms of unmanned combat air vehicles and plan the end game for an air battle that has yet to begin. The clock is ticking – a fifth generation fighter war is coming.
THE BOOK:
Tempest books is based in the UK.
This book is hard-bound of 277 pages, 7 of which are blank. It is in 7 ¼” x 9 ¾” page format.
It holds 218 color photos and only a couple black and white ones.
The cover art shows a F-22 Raptor at the top and a Lockheed F-35 Lightning below.
Color photos are of:
The Lockheed F-35A, the Russian Sukhoi Su-57, the Lockheed F-22 Raptor, the WWII German Messerschmitt Me-110G-2 in the RAF Museum in Hendon, England, a Russian MiG-31 & MiG-31M, a WWII German Messerschmitt Me-262 in a black and white photo, the prototype YP-59A, the Gloster Meteor F-3, 2 photos of the McDonnell F3H Demon, the Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star, the English-Electric Lightning F.1A, the Vought F4U-1 Cutlass, the Saab-35 Draken, the Fiat G.91R, the Mirage III, a black and white photo of the U.S.S. Boxer carrier loaded with F-51 Mustangs, a B-29, 2 photos of the Russian MiG-15, 2 photos of the F-86, the Douglas F3D Skyknight, 2 photos of the Republic F-84 Thunderjet.
The F-100D, the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom, the Grumman F9F-6 Cougar, the Vought F-8 Crusader, the English-Electric BAC Lightning F.6, the Vought F8U-3 Crusader, the Grumman F-14D, the F-15C, the remains of a WWII German Horten Ho-229 in a museum, a F-106, a F-15F Strike Eagle, an Avro Vulcan, a YB-49, a Lockheed Mock 3 A-12, a YF-12A, 2 photos of a F-117, a Have Blue prototype, 4 photos of a Northrop-Grumman B-2 Spirit. NASA’s LVTF-8, Canada’s Avro CF-105 Arrow, a black and white WWII German V-2 rocket, 3 photos of and unknown aircraft’s circuit units, the cockpit interior of this unknown aircraft, a Lockheed-Martin F-16C, 2 photos of NASA’s X-15 test rig, a NF-15B Eagle, a AN/APG-66 in a museum, a Russian MiG-31 Foxhound, an AN/APG-68, an Israeli Industries EL/M-2075 Phalcon, Britain’s Skyflash, a Japanese Mitsubishi F-2, developed by Ferranti Company the UK’s Fireflash AAM missile, photos of 3 different radars, the BAC Lightning, the AIM Sparrow missile & AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, 12 photos of the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor and it’s cockpit interior, a photo showing a fighter jettisoning its fuel tanks, Raptor 07 flare releases, 2 photos of the F-35 Lightning II.
An A-12 Avenger, 2 photos of a Boeing X-32 prototype, 2 photos each of the Lockheed-Martin X-35, X-35C, X35B, 3 photos of their F-35A & a photo of the cockpit interior of the F-35B, 3 photos of the Russian MiG-35, the Russian MiG-29.
A photo of the cockpit interior of a MiG-29M, 3 photos of a MiG-29 SMT variant, a MiG-29 OVT, 5 photos of a MiG-35 & its cockpit interior, a Kh-38 air-to-surface missile, No. 10-E radar, a Vympel A-77 missile being carried by a MiG-35, 3 photos of the MiG I-42, the Zhukovsky Airfield in Russia, 3 photos of a Yak-141, a R-37 AAM missile, a Russian MiG-21, 7 photos of an aircraft known variously as the Sukhoi S-32, S-37 & SU-47 BERKUT.
A black and white photo of a WWII German Junkers 287, the X-29A, the AGM-29 stealth missile, a Russian MiG-29M, 2 photos of a Sukhoi SU-27, 4 photos of a Sukhoi SU-57 & inside its cockpit, 2 photos of a Sukhoi SU-30, a Sukhoi SU-27M & its engine, 2 photos of a Sukhoi SU-34, 3 photos of a Sukhoi T-50/SU-57.
The Sukhoi SU-T50, the KH-38 missile, the Brahmos cruise missile, a 101Ks-V infrared search & track turret, a Sukhoi SU-35S, a Sukhoi LTS “Checkmate”, a Northrop YF-23, 7 photos of a Chinese Chengdu J-10 & J-20, a Chinese Shenyang J-11, J-15 & J-17, 7 photos of a Shenyang FC-31, a photo of the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, the Hindustan Aircraft Company’s medium combat aircraft, similar to Lockheed-Martin’s F-22, HAL TEJAS, 2 photos of the Japanese Mitsubishi X-2, 2 photos of Japan’s F.2 ATD-X stealth fighter, 2 photos of the XF-X, South Korea’s T-50, 3 photos of U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18F Super Hornet & also shown on a carrier, 4 photos of a RAF Typhoon, 3 photos of the Rafale fighter, 2 photos of the Czech Air Forces SAAB JAS-34 Gripen & JAS-39C.
A photo of a Russian OSA-AKM SAM system with the Polish Army, the 202nd Air Division Brigade in Russia with an S-300V SAM system, the RAF’s Boeing F-3D Sentry, the AEW-1, the Panavia Tornado F3, an X-51 missile, a Russian S-400 SAM truck, the Royal Australian AF Boeing E-7A Wedgetail, a X-47B, V.S. Navstar GPS satellite, a Northrop-Grumman B-21, a MQ-9 Reaper, a F-15, a BAE Systems' Taranis UCAV, a Boeing Tempest fighter, a mock-up of European NGF.
The end of the book has a 2 page INDEX and 7 blank pages.
This book will be of great interest to modelers and aviation historians alike.
Highly Recommended.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. They are the N. American distributor of Tempest books and this book can be purchased on Casemate’s website at:
Fifth Generation Fighters explains how net-centric warfare and sensor fusion takes the fight into the very heart of the weapons systems computer, tracking up to 100 hostiles and downing many beyond visual range. Future fighters will connect to satellites, control swarms of unmanned combat air vehicles and plan the end game for an air battle that has yet to begin. The clock is ticking – a fifth generation fighter war is coming.
THE BOOK:
Tempest books is based in the UK.
This book is hard-bound of 277 pages, 7 of which are blank. It is in 7 ¼” x 9 ¾” page format.
It holds 218 color photos and only a couple black and white ones.
The cover art shows a F-22 Raptor at the top and a Lockheed F-35 Lightning below.
Color photos are of:
The Lockheed F-35A, the Russian Sukhoi Su-57, the Lockheed F-22 Raptor, the WWII German Messerschmitt Me-110G-2 in the RAF Museum in Hendon, England, a Russian MiG-31 & MiG-31M, a WWII German Messerschmitt Me-262 in a black and white photo, the prototype YP-59A, the Gloster Meteor F-3, 2 photos of the McDonnell F3H Demon, the Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star, the English-Electric Lightning F.1A, the Vought F4U-1 Cutlass, the Saab-35 Draken, the Fiat G.91R, the Mirage III, a black and white photo of the U.S.S. Boxer carrier loaded with F-51 Mustangs, a B-29, 2 photos of the Russian MiG-15, 2 photos of the F-86, the Douglas F3D Skyknight, 2 photos of the Republic F-84 Thunderjet.
The F-100D, the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom, the Grumman F9F-6 Cougar, the Vought F-8 Crusader, the English-Electric BAC Lightning F.6, the Vought F8U-3 Crusader, the Grumman F-14D, the F-15C, the remains of a WWII German Horten Ho-229 in a museum, a F-106, a F-15F Strike Eagle, an Avro Vulcan, a YB-49, a Lockheed Mock 3 A-12, a YF-12A, 2 photos of a F-117, a Have Blue prototype, 4 photos of a Northrop-Grumman B-2 Spirit. NASA’s LVTF-8, Canada’s Avro CF-105 Arrow, a black and white WWII German V-2 rocket, 3 photos of and unknown aircraft’s circuit units, the cockpit interior of this unknown aircraft, a Lockheed-Martin F-16C, 2 photos of NASA’s X-15 test rig, a NF-15B Eagle, a AN/APG-66 in a museum, a Russian MiG-31 Foxhound, an AN/APG-68, an Israeli Industries EL/M-2075 Phalcon, Britain’s Skyflash, a Japanese Mitsubishi F-2, developed by Ferranti Company the UK’s Fireflash AAM missile, photos of 3 different radars, the BAC Lightning, the AIM Sparrow missile & AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, 12 photos of the Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor and it’s cockpit interior, a photo showing a fighter jettisoning its fuel tanks, Raptor 07 flare releases, 2 photos of the F-35 Lightning II.
An A-12 Avenger, 2 photos of a Boeing X-32 prototype, 2 photos each of the Lockheed-Martin X-35, X-35C, X35B, 3 photos of their F-35A & a photo of the cockpit interior of the F-35B, 3 photos of the Russian MiG-35, the Russian MiG-29.
A photo of the cockpit interior of a MiG-29M, 3 photos of a MiG-29 SMT variant, a MiG-29 OVT, 5 photos of a MiG-35 & its cockpit interior, a Kh-38 air-to-surface missile, No. 10-E radar, a Vympel A-77 missile being carried by a MiG-35, 3 photos of the MiG I-42, the Zhukovsky Airfield in Russia, 3 photos of a Yak-141, a R-37 AAM missile, a Russian MiG-21, 7 photos of an aircraft known variously as the Sukhoi S-32, S-37 & SU-47 BERKUT.
A black and white photo of a WWII German Junkers 287, the X-29A, the AGM-29 stealth missile, a Russian MiG-29M, 2 photos of a Sukhoi SU-27, 4 photos of a Sukhoi SU-57 & inside its cockpit, 2 photos of a Sukhoi SU-30, a Sukhoi SU-27M & its engine, 2 photos of a Sukhoi SU-34, 3 photos of a Sukhoi T-50/SU-57.
The Sukhoi SU-T50, the KH-38 missile, the Brahmos cruise missile, a 101Ks-V infrared search & track turret, a Sukhoi SU-35S, a Sukhoi LTS “Checkmate”, a Northrop YF-23, 7 photos of a Chinese Chengdu J-10 & J-20, a Chinese Shenyang J-11, J-15 & J-17, 7 photos of a Shenyang FC-31, a photo of the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, the Hindustan Aircraft Company’s medium combat aircraft, similar to Lockheed-Martin’s F-22, HAL TEJAS, 2 photos of the Japanese Mitsubishi X-2, 2 photos of Japan’s F.2 ATD-X stealth fighter, 2 photos of the XF-X, South Korea’s T-50, 3 photos of U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18F Super Hornet & also shown on a carrier, 4 photos of a RAF Typhoon, 3 photos of the Rafale fighter, 2 photos of the Czech Air Forces SAAB JAS-34 Gripen & JAS-39C.
A photo of a Russian OSA-AKM SAM system with the Polish Army, the 202nd Air Division Brigade in Russia with an S-300V SAM system, the RAF’s Boeing F-3D Sentry, the AEW-1, the Panavia Tornado F3, an X-51 missile, a Russian S-400 SAM truck, the Royal Australian AF Boeing E-7A Wedgetail, a X-47B, V.S. Navstar GPS satellite, a Northrop-Grumman B-21, a MQ-9 Reaper, a F-15, a BAE Systems' Taranis UCAV, a Boeing Tempest fighter, a mock-up of European NGF.
The end of the book has a 2 page INDEX and 7 blank pages.
This book will be of great interest to modelers and aviation historians alike.
Highly Recommended.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. They are the N. American distributor of Tempest books and this book can be purchased on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.