Anti-Aircraft Artillery in Combat, 1950-1972

An in-depth look at the combat performance of ground-based air defenses during the Korean War, Vietnam War, Middle East conflicts, and other campaigns. Though anti-aircraft artillery was extensively used in combat in the First World War, it wasn’t until World War II that it came into prominence, shooting down more aircraft than any other weapon and seriously degrading the conduct of air operations. In the battle between the attackers and anti-aircraft artillery, the latter had the upper hand when the war ended. The post-war years saw a decline in anti-aircraft artillery as peace prevailed, and the advent of the jet aircraft seemed to tilt the balance in favor of the aircraft as they flew faster and higher, seemingly beyond the reach of anti-aircraft artillery. It would take all the hi-tech equipment and the guile and cunning that anti-aircraft artillery could muster to try and reclaim pole position. It is that story, of the tug of war between the aircraft and artillery, that forms the narrative of this book—as it traces the history of combat employment of anti-aircraft artillery from the Korean War, in effect the first Jet Age war, to the War of Attrition between Arab states and Israel when the missiles came of age, sending the aircraft scurrying for cover. Mandeep Singh’s book is the first attempt to look at the performance of anti-aircraft artillery, incorporating the views, analyses and experiences of Soviet, Arab and South Asian Armies through the major wars between 1950 and 1972.