Introduced in 1995, and substantially expanded and updated for 1997, this one-volume reference covers all types and all versions of those types of military aircraft now in service in the world's air forces. It offers comprehensive technical descriptions and performance characteristics, information on armaments and loads, and program histories on all fixed- and rotary-wing combat, transport, liaison, and training aircraft. For this edition, most of the illustrations have been replaced with sharper and more recent images of some 360 types of aircraft; included are operational photographs of Russian aircraft unavailable elsewhere. The section on the world's 169 air forces has been expanded to include details on all major air bases, including geographical coordinates and runway orientation, lengths, and widths. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or. Read Less