On the Osprey Publishing website we have found four new books in the "Aircraft of the Aces" and "Combat Aircrat" series.

"Valiant Units of the Cold War"
Combat Aircraft 95
ISBN: 9781849087537
Relese: August 2012
Paperback, 96 pages
Price: £13.99

Author: Andrew Brookes
Illustrator: Chris Davey

About this book
The RAF’s first Cold War strategic bomber, the Vickers Valiant, was procured as an insurance measure in case either the Vulcan or Victor was found to have a serious flaw. The Valiant was the equivalent of the US B-47 Stratojet, and it blazed the trail for the British airborne nuclear deterrent as the aircraft enjoyed a far more active service career than later V-bombers. It was the launch platform for all British free fall nuclear weapons tests both in the Pacific and in central Australia, it took part in the Suez campaign in 1956 and it was the only V-bomber to drop (conventional) weapons in anger until the Falklands operation in 1982. The Valiant was modified to serve in the electronic warfare, strategic reconnaissance and airborne tanker role, but it had to be grounded in early 1965 when the aircraft succumbed to metal fatigue.

Contents:
- Valiant creation
- The first V-bomber into service – trailblazer for high level Cold War bombing tactics
- The Suez Campaign
- Christmas Island nuclear weapons tests
- High level bombing capability and Cold War organisation
- The Versatile Valiant (strategic reconnaissance and tanking)
- Allocation to SACEUR for low-level operations in the tactical nuclear role
- Metal fatigue and sudden demise
- Appendices: Detailing all units equipped with the Valiant and where they were based;
- Comprehensive plate commentaries
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"Soviet Hurricane Aces of World War 2"
Aircraft of the Aces 107
ISBN: 9781849087414
Paperback: 96 pages
Publish date: August 2012
Price: £13.99

About this book
Following the destruction wrought on the Red Army Air Forces during the first days of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Soviet Union found itself desperately short of fighter aircraft. Premier Josef Stalin duly appealed directly to Prime Minister Winston Churchill for replacement aircraft, and in late 1941 the British delivered the first of 3360 Hurricanes that would be supplied to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease agreement. Specifically requested by the USSR, the Hurricanes were quickly thrown into action in early 1942 – the Soviet Air Forces’ most difficult year in their opposition to the Luftwaffe. Virtually all the Hurricanes were issued to Soviet fighter regiments in the northern sector of the front, where pilots were initially trained to fly the aircraft by RAF personnel that had accompanied the early Hawker fighters to the USSR. The Hurricane proved to be an easy aircraft to master, even for the poorly trained young Soviet pilots, allowing the Red Army to form a large number of new fighter regiments quickly in the polar area. In spite of a relatively poor top speed, and only a modest rate-of-climb, the Hurricane was the mount of at least 17 Soviet aces.
Contents
- Hurricane Arrives
- Soviet Conversion
- Combat Success
- Hard Year
- Railway Patrols
- 1943
- 1944
- Appendices
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"Defiant, Blenheim and Havoc Aces"

Aircraft of the Aces 105
ISBN: 9781849086660
Publish date: June 2012
Paperback, 96 pages
Price:£13.99

Author: Andrew Thomas
Illustrator: Chris Davey

About this book
The Blenheim IF flew some of Fighter Command’s early offensive operations, and the type soon proved vulnerable when pitted against single-seat fighters. However, for much of 1940 the Blenheim fighter squadrons provided the RAF’s main long-range convoy escort and nightfighter capability. In the mid-1930s, in an attempt to capitalise on its expertise in power-operated gun turrets, the Boulton Paul Company developed the Defiant, a single-engined fighter in which all the armament was concentrated in the turret behind the pilot. Intended as a ‘bomber destroyer’, the Defiant had its combat debut over Dunkirk, and initially achieved some considerable success. A number of American-built aircraft called Douglas DB-7 light bombers (named Havoc by the RAF), were fitted with radar for nightfighter duties and others successfully replaced the Blenheim as night intruders. A total of 11 pilots claimed five or more victories when flying these three types to become aces, whilst no fewer than 33 who became aces claimed at least part of their scores when flying the Blenheim, Defiant or Havoc.

Contents
- Early Day Operations
- Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain
- Early Night Operations
- Overseas Operations
- Valediction
- Appendices (- Blenheim, Defiant & Havoc Aces - Aces with some Blenheim, Defiant & Havoc claims - Aces that flew Blenheim, Defiant & Havoc but made no claims - Colour Plates Commentary).
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"Spanish Republican Aces"
Aircraft of the Aces 106
ISBN: 9781849086684
Publish date: June 2012
Paperback, 96 pages
Price: £13.99

About this book
At the start of the Spanish Civil War, most young fighter pilot officers joined the rebels, while the high ranking officers, grupo or escuadrilla commanders, and the NCOs, sergeants and corporals remained loyal to the government. Mostly flying the obsolete Nieuport Ni.52s these loyalists were soon outpaced by the more modern Fiat CR.32s and Heinkel He 51s. However, at this early stage of the war, there were several Republican airmen who became aces and famous in the process, despite the small numbers of enemy aircraft shot down. Widely speaking, the Republican military aviation did not keep an exhaustive record of individual shooting claims. However, sufficient documentation exists to make a reasonable assumption as to which pilots fall into the ace category. This volume details the exploits of those pilots, complementing previous works in the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series on Nationalist CR.32 Aces and Polikarpov I-15, I-16 and I-152 Aces.

Contents
- The Republican Fighter Force in 1936-37
- The Escuadra de Caza nº 11
- Fighter Pilots in the North
- Chato Pilots
- Mosca Pilots
- Nightfighter Pilots
- Appendices (-Technical specification and performance tables for all fighter types serving in Spain - List of Top Scoring pilots in the Spanish Republican Aviation -Colour Plates Commentary
- Selected bibliography for those wishing to delve deeper into the history of air operations in the Spanish Civil War).
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