One thing about the Soviet Union is that they were in a constantly using their military products to influence areas in the world that had not fallen under the sphere of Western powers in Europe or the United States. They specifically chose nations who had either decided to give communism a try or were otherwise ruled by dictators that were friendly to the Soviet Union.

Part of that friendship was that the Soviets would provide modern equipment for their military forces. This was the most obvious in what used to be the Near East, but is now, thanks to a quirk in British administration names, now called the Middle East. The nations that most greatly benefitted from Soviet equipment were Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Yemen. None of these five nations are even today what one would really call stable with all of them being run by some sort of dictatorial power whether it be religious, military or an oppressive ruling party. Most all of these have used their Soviet aircraft in warfare either against themselves or Israel. Aside from the five mentioned, there are other regional nations who have had Soviet/Russian equipment, but that has been minimal and they are not in the same general category as those five.

Not surprisingly, Egypt tops the list and was the major recipient of Soviet assistance until the mid 1970s when the West was the arms supplier of choice. Syria could be considered a close second and is still supplied by Russia when it comes to military equipment. Iraq also received quite a bit of gear, especially during it war with Iran. Iran was equipped by the West until taken over by Islamic fundamentalists in 1980 and since then, has been supplied mostly by the Russians. They were a major recipient of Iraqi aircraft fleeing during Desert Shield and got enough aircraft to equip several squadrons. Finally, Yemen, though not a major player in the area, was still leaning to the Soviets and so had much of their air force equipped with Russian gear. Other nations like Jordan and Lebanon as well as the Palestininans have used Russian built aircraft, mostly helicopters and transports while Israel has flown Soviet aircraft provided by defectors.

In this latest book in a very large series of publications on Soviet and Russian aircraft since WWII, the authors have concentrated on the aircraft supplied to this region of the world. Each section has a historical background to their air forces, photos of the aircraft they used as well as some excellent color profiles. Each nation also has a very extensive data section that lists every known aircraft ever owned by these nations by type, serial number and a host of other facts. These tables are quite extensive and very interesting in their own right.

It is a book that I am positive you will very much enjoy reading and belongs on the shelves of any student of Soviet military aircraft and the nations of this region of the world.

August 2013

Review book courtesy of Specialty Press, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and modeling books. Visit their website at the link above or call them at 1-800-895-4585

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