Technology and its proper use constitute key components in the strength of any armed forces. However, battlefield technologies constantly evolve in the quest for competitive advantage, with the rate at which new concepts and devices appear steadily increasing. In the world of technological intelligence, militaries worldwide not only seek to advance their technologies but to gather information about the latest technological and scientific developments of present and future adversaries, eval...

Technological failure results when one side in a conflict does not fully grasp the potential impact of known, or even familiar, weapons in the enemyÆs hands. In most cases, such failure resulted from higher officialsÆ ignorance or their total misunderstanding of the importance and relevance of such technology and science as well as of their application to warfare. Technological failure is also the root cause of technological surprise. While operational surprise on the battlefield poses grave ...

Vice Adm. William H. McRaven helped to devise the strategy for how to bring down Osama bin Laden, and commanded the courageous U.S. military unit that carried it out on May 1, 2011, ending one of the greatest manhunts in history. In Spec Ops, a well-organized and deeply researched study, McRaven analyzes eight classic special operations. Six are from WWII: the German commando raid on the Belgian fort Eben Emael (1940); the Italian torpedo attack on the Alexandria harbor (1941); th...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The definitive history of combat aviation and fighter aircraft, from World War I to presentINCLUDES 32 PAGES OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND 12 MAPSLords of the Sky is the “dramatic, fast-paced, and definitive" (Michael Korda) aviation history of fighter pilots and aircraft and their extraordinary influence on modern warfare, masterfully written by "one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force history” (New York Post). A twenty-year USAF veteran ...

With exclusive interviews, a Signal Corps veteran tells the full story of how cryptography helped defeat the Axis powers, at Bletchley Park and beyond.For years, the story of the World War II codebreakers was kept a crucial state secret. Even Winston Churchill, himself a great advocate of Britain's cryptologic program, purposefully minimized their achievements in his history books. Now, though, after decades have passed, the true scope of the British and American cr...

A comprehensive account of World War II by America’s preeminent military historian and author of The Dying Citizen**.****“Breathtakingly magisterial.” —**Wall Street JournalWorld War II was the most lethal conflict in human history. Never before had a war been fought on so many diverse landscapes and in so many different ways, from rocket attacks in London to jungle fighting in Burma to armor strikes in Li...

This book examines the technology and strategy that defined the outcome of the battles between the King Tiger and the IS-2.The Soviets had been quick to develop tanks that could fight the Tiger on an equal footing, but these were developed as part of a completely different strategy than that employed by the Germans. The King Tiger was a modern marvel, and remained unmatched in one-on-one combat. Technologically superior, with greater firepower and better armour tha...

A monumental, groundbreaking work, now in paperback, that shows how technological and strategic revolutions have transformed the battlefieldCombining gripping narrative history with wide-ranging analysis, War Made New focuses on four "revolutions" in military affairs and describes how inventions ranging from gunpowder to GPS-guided air strikes have remade the field of battle—and shaped the rise and fall of empires.War Made New begins with ...

The Art of Maneuver shows how true maneuver-warfare theory has been applied in campaigns throughout history. With a genius for apt analogy the author shows how our obsession with fighting and winning set-piece battles causes us to overlook an enemy’s true vulnerabilities. But as low-intensity conflicts promise to become the dominant warfare of the future, the importance of maneuver in attacking an enemy’s critical vulnerability will render attrition approaches to warfighting ever ...

The true story of a German-Japanese scheme to turn much of America into a radioactive wasteland.In the early hours of June 24, 1944, U.S. Navy warplanes patrolling the Atlantic attacked a Japanese submarine known as the I-52. But this was more than the sinking of one more enemy warship. It was an event of enormous strategic importance. For the I-52’s mission was to return to Japan with the lethal ingredients of a doomsday weapon—the radiological b...

One of the most influential experts on military history and strategy has now written his magnum opus, an original and provocative account of the past hundred years of global conflict. The Changing Face of War is the book that reveals the path that led to the impasse in Iraq, why powerful standing armies are now helpless against ill-equipped insurgents, and how the security of sovereign nations may be maintained in the future.While paying close attention to the unpredictable human e...

Airpower, more than any other factor, has shaped war in the twentieth century. In this fascinating narrative history, Martin van Creveld vividly portrays the rise of the plane as a tool of war and the evolution of both technology and strategy. He documents seminal battles and turning points, and relates stories of individual daring and collective mastery of the skies.However, the end of airpower's glorious age is drawing near. The conventional wisdom to the contrary, modern precisi...