Carrier Aircraft of the Modern Era

Even as the Cold War ended, US carrier aircraft took a key role in Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 campaign to drive invading Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Decades of combat over Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, and Syria kept US Navy carrier air wings at the forefront of global power projection. Meanwhile, China and Russia embarked on their own carrier programmes, the UK scrapped its capability only to expensively resurrect it years later, and the carrier 'club' continued with members including India, Spain, and Italy. Carrier aircraft included the F-14 Tomcat, the F/A-18 Hornet series and the world's first fifth-generation carrier-borne jet, the F-35 Lightning II. This third instalment in the Carrier Aircraft series details these incredible aircraft and many more, examining their technologies, operations, and capability in the modern era.