Find out what you can expect from the Combat Aircraft series in 2027!

 

COM 165 RAF Lightning Units of the Cold War
By Michael Napier
Illustrated by Gareth Hector and Janusz Swiatlon
18/02/2027

An illustrated study of the Lightning interceptor and its eventful operational history as one of the RAF’s key aircraft of the Cold War era.

The Mach 2-capable English Electric Lightning is perhaps the most iconic RAF aeroplane of the Cold War. Boasting a massive increase in performance and improved radar and weapons systems over its predecessors, the Lightning brought new capabilities to the RAF’s air defences. Tactics were adapted to fit the aircraft, including incorporating air-to-air refuelling as a routine part of operations because of the Lightning’s notoriously short range.

Retired fighter pilot Mike Napier draws on first-hand accounts from RAF aviators to tell the story of Britain’s ultimate Cold War jet fighter. Covering everything from the Lightning’s exercises with other NATO air forces to its interception of Soviet long-range ‘Badger’ and ‘Bear’ bombers in the late 1960s, this volume complements the aircraft’s colourful operational history with 20 profile artworks and photography from both official and personal archives.

 

COM 166 P-47N Thunderbolt Units of the Central Pacific
By Jonathan Bernstein
Illustrated by Gareth Hector and Janusz Swiatlon
24/06/2027

An illustrated study of the P-47N Thunderbolt, which was the ultimate version of the widely used Republic fighter to see action in World War 2. 

The P-47N was the final variant of the most-produced American fighter of World War 2, the Republic Thunderbolt, and it featured a redesigned wing, more powerful engine and increased range. Its late introduction limited the aircraft’s combat use to the closing months of the Pacific War over the Japanese home islands, where it excelled as a long-range fighter-bomber from May to August 1945. Thanks to its ‘long legs’, the aircraft – based on Ie Shima and Iwo Jima – was used to attack Japanese fighter airfields in advance of B-29 Superfortress raids that struck industrial targets.

In this engrossing volume, former US Army pilot Jonathan Bernstein details the actions of those who flew the ultimate Thunderbolt into combat, including the handful of P-47N pilots who achieved ace status with the fighter. First-hand accounts help to bring these exploits to life, whilst 20 newly commissioned profile artworks and a selection of archival photographs detail the innovations and capabilities that made the N-model a key aircraft of the Pacific War’s final phase.