Strike: Beyond Top Gun - Hardcover

Llinares, Rick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0760325251 ISBN 13: 9780760325254

Publisher: Zenith Pr, 2006

Synopsis

In Strike, veteran aviation photographer and author Rick Llinares takes us beyond Top Gun, into the new era of integrated Carrier Air Wing strike training at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Nevada. Llinares puts readers into the cockpit with the nation’s top pilots as they undergo air-to-ground, air-to-air, search-and-rescue, and intelligence training in the military’s most advanced aircraft.

This book is the first profile of the U.S. military’s latest pilot training facility and procedures, including unprecedented access to the latest in warfare techniques and technology. Includes riveting and informative first-person accounts from the instructors, fleet air crews, and commanders, and 200 color photos of the aircraft in today's modern air force.

About this title

About the Author

Rick Llinares, a Long Island–based aviation photographer and author, has been covering American military aviation for over ten years, logging hundreds of hours of flight time in a wide variety of American fighter jets, tankers, and helicopters. The author of three hardcover books and countless articles on American combat aircraft, Llinares has also profiled NSAWC in feature stories for magazines such as Naval Aviation News, The Hook, Air Forces Monthly, and World Air Power Journal. Over the course of many photographic flights, he has amassed one of the largest collections of cutting-edge photography of navy and NSAWC aircraft in action.

From the Back Cover

From the air and sea a new era in air combat training and strategy.

The U.S. Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC), located in Nevada at Naval Air Station Fallon, is the center of excellence for naval aviation training and tactics development. NSAWC provides expert services to air crews, squadrons, and air wings in the form of flight training, academic instructional classes, and direct operational and intelligence support. The center maintains and flies a fleet of F/A-18 Hornets, F-16 Fighting Falcons, and SH-60 Seahawk helicopters.

In Strike, veteran aviation photographer and author Rick Llinares takes readers into the new era of integrated carrier air wing strike training, where the top echelon of pilots from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps undertake realistic flight training in electronic warfare, air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons delivery, and enemy evasion tactics. Llinares unparalleled access to this elite facility gets readers up in the air with F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets, and into the cockpit of F-16 Fighting Falcons, F-5 Tigers, and a host of other airplanes and helicopters as they maneuver through an intense course of aerial combat training, battle management, search and rescue, close air support, and naval air intelligence. Llinares extraordinary, close-up action shots give readers insight into the soaring thrill experienced by only the very few the Top Guns of our day.

From the Inside Flap

In 1996, when the U.S. military moved its legendary Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as Top Gun, to its new home at Naval Air Station Fallon, a new era began. Joining the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School (Top Dome) and the Naval Strike Warfare Center (Strike U), the new command the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) went beyond the air-to-air training associated with Top Gun to become a unified center of air combat training excellence.

The roots of NSAWC can be traced back to combat operations in which the Navy played a significant role and the hard lessons learned from these operations. The idea to create the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) originated during the Vietnam War. The Strike Warfare Center, a.k.a. Strike University the air-to-ground equivalent of Top Gun dates back to the 1980s. There are many direct similarities between the former Naval Strike Warfare Center (NSWC) and today s integrated command. The mission of NSWC included serving as the primary authority for strike warfare tactics and developments, improving strike and war-at-sea tactics development, working with other commands on air wing training, and advising the deputy chief of naval operations on strike warfare research. NSAWC brings together all of these aspects and expands on them to include Top Gun, Top Dome (the E-2C Hawkeye training program), and other newer elements, such as SH-60 Seahawk training operations.

Edition details

• Publisher: Zenith Pr
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0760325251
• ISBN 13: 9780760325254
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192