For many of us, it wasn't all that long ago that the Soviet Union was the excuse used by the US military ot spend billions of dollars on defense. Part of that defense was the set-up of various interceptor squadrons close to the Canadian border. Not because we feared an attack from Canada, but because the shortest distance to the Soviet Union was over the Arctic and if bombers were going to be sent, that is the way they'd come.

For most of the Cold War, the USAF had dedicated Fighter Interceptor Squadrons (FIS) whose job it was to go after the expected bombers. As the US got more involved in Vietnam, much of this mission was turned over to the ANG, who used F-101Bs, F-106s, and F-4s. There were still some regular USAF squadrons with this mission and for the most part, they flew F-106s. As the F-106s were nearing retirement, the mission went to the F-15A. Reorganization meant the loss of the ADC (Air Defense Command) as a stand-alone command and it was incorporated into TAC (Tactical Air Command) becoming ADTAC. Again, this lasted only a short time when the fall of the Soviet Union resulted in the loss of dedicated interceptor squadrons.

Before that happened, three of these units had already transitioned to the F-15. Those were the 5th FIS in North Dakota, the 48th FIS in Virginia, and the 318th FIS in Washington state. Those units are covered on this sheet.

What Caracal models has provided are three planes from each of these units. One is the boss bird, and one is a two seat F-15B. There is no lack of kits that you can use for this sheet. One thing to keep in mind is that by the time the F-15 was in ADC/ADTAC, the 'turkey feathers' had been removed from the burner cans.

 Going back a bit in time, we have the latest Caracal Models sheet concentrating on the Lizard/Euro 1 camouflaged A-10A. The Euro 1 scheme was the second camouflage scheme worn by the A-10 with initial aircraft wearing a grey's scheme that was quite similar to what they have now.

This sheet contains markings for a dozen A-10As, some with names and others with mission markings gained during Desert Storm. Included here are:

A-10A 78-0670 138th TFS, New York Air National Guard

A-10A 78-0685 138th TFS, New York Air National Guard

A-10A 81-0979 509th TFS, RAF Alconbury

A-10A 81-0967 "Brothers in Arms", 511st TFS, RAF Alconbury

A-10A 80-0206 92nd TFS, RAF Bentwaters

A-10A 81-0952 510th TFS, RAF Bentwaters

A-10A 81-0962 91st TFS, RAF Bentwaters

A-10A 81-0950 78th TFS, RAF Bentwaters

A-10A 78-0599 "Bird of Prey", 355th TFS, Operation Desert Storm

A-10A 79-0099 "Fang", 355th TFS, Operation Desert Storm

A-10A 79-0112 "Here Comes The Judge", 355th TFS, Operation Desert Storm

A-10A 78-0724 "Leslie the Seminole Warrior", 355th TFS, Operation Desert Storm

The sheet is superbly printed by Cartograf and offers enough common markings for one aircraft. You also get a variety of numbers in case you'd rather do another aircraft from the unit. Though no kit is specified, these would be good with the Monogram kit as they are, for the most part, planes without the additional antennas added later on. Regardless of which one you pick, it is great to see a new sheet for early versions this aircraft.

April 2021

Thanks to http://www.caracalmodels.com for the review sheet. Get yours today from this link.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

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