Product Spotlight

Beyond the Observable

Ever since man took up arms against his fellow man, humankind has sought out ways to gain the upper hand in battle. In the case of cloaked or stealth aircraft, a number of nations have attempted to develop ways to detect that which is supposedly “un-seeable”, or at least get a better understanding of what they are confronting in the modern battlespace so that measures can be brought to bear to unravel their advantages.

One of the latest developments arising from the so-called “stealth wars” is IRST. An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters.

IRST is a generalized case of forward looking infrared (FLIR), i.e. from forward-looking to all-round situation awareness. Such systems are passive (thermographic camera), meaning they do not give out any radiation of their own, unlike radar. This gives them the advantage that they are difficult to detect.

However, because the atmosphere attenuates infrared to some extent (although not as much as visible light) and because adverse weather can attenuate it also (again, not as badly as visible systems), their range compared to a radar is limited. Within range, an IRST’s angular resolution is better than radar due to the shorter wavelength.

To date, Hobby Master has done an admirable job of modeling some of the latest experimental aircraft still undergoing testing by the USAF, all in an effort to once again gain the upper hand in aerial warfare. Their “chrome” covered F-22s sold out almost the moment they became available and are now commanding prices well in excess of their introductory price. That said, the USAF is conducting field testing of other experimental aircraft, eventually choosing the best means of protecting their aircraft in combat for the foreseeable future. The so-called “symbiote” F-22 represents another step towards remaining stealthy in aerial combat.

Nicknamed “Disco” or Symbiote F-22, the new Raptor with a reflective coating has been one of the highlights for the photographers gathered outside Nellis Air Force Base for Red Flag 22-2.

A second F-22 with a mirror-like coating has been spotted flying out of Nellis AFB, Nevada. As already explained, the new coating on this second stealth aircraft appears to be much different than the one on the Raptor [IDed as airframe #04-4065] that made its first appearance in November 2021: it features smaller, mirror-like tiles applied on the nose section, weapons bay doors, fuselage and also inner and outer face of the twin tails.

Hobby Master is already hard at work developing a model based upon the symbiote scheme. While pre-production photos are still a couple of months off, the manufacturer did release a four-sided illustration that ably demonstrates the look of their newest F-22. It is our belief that HA2828, as it is currently known, will instantly become a hit when it is released in 2024, and become hard to get in the after market. That said, there’s still time to pre-purchase this model before it flies off for the great blue yonder.

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Product Spotlight: Ganymede’s Ascent

**Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy North American RA-5C Vigilante Strike Bomber – 150834/604, RVAH-13 “Bats”, USS Kitty Hawk (CVN-63), 1966 [Experimental SEA Camouflage Scheme]**

In Greek mythology, Ganymede is a divine hero whose homeland was Troy. Homer describes Ganymede as the most beautiful of mortals and tells the story of how he was abducted by the gods to serve as Zeus’s cup bearer in Olympus.

Like Ganymede, the North American RA-5C Vigilante strike bomber was one of the most beautiful aircraft to ever serve in the US Navy’s arsenal, swept up from its original purpose to serve in a completely different role.

Despite being designated by the US Navy as a “heavy”, the A-5 was surprisingly agile for such a large aircraft. Without the drag of bombs or missiles, even escorting fighters found that the clean airframe and powerful engines made the Vigilante very fast at high and low altitudes. However, its high approach speed and high angle of attack in the landing configuration made returning to the aircraft carrier a challenge for inexperienced or unwary pilots.

Given its original design as a carrier-based, supersonic, nuclear heavy attack aircraft, the Vigilante’s main armament was carried in a novel “linear bomb bay” between the engines in the rear fuselage, which provided for positive separation of the bomb from the aircraft at supersonic speeds. The single nuclear weapon, commonly the Mk 28 bomb, was attached to two disposable fuel tanks in the cylindrical bay in an assembly known as the “stores train”. A set of extendable fins was attached to the aft end of the most rearward fuel tank. These fuel tanks were to be emptied during the flight to the target and then jettisoned with the bomb by an explosive drogue gun. The stores train was propelled rearward at about 50 feet per second (30 knots) relative to the aircraft. It thereafter followed a typical ballistic path.

In practice, the system was not reliable and no live weapons were ever carried in the linear bomb bay. In the RA-5C configuration, the bay was used solely for fuel. On three occasions, the shock of the catapult launch caused the fuel cans to eject onto the deck resulting in one aircraft loss.

Hobby Master’s first set of Vigilantes has been out-of-stock for some time, neglected, some say, in favor of other more popular aircraft. Nevertheless, December marks the return of the Vigilante and a fitting tribute to any aviation enthusiast’s pantheon of diecast warplanes.

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Product Spotlight: By Fire and Storm

“In the fight of his life, Royce Williams had accomplished what no other American fighter pilot would ever accomplish: shoot down four MiG-15s in one fight.”
– Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, author of Holding the Line

**Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale US Navy Grumman F9F-5 Panther Fighter – Captain Royce Williams, “Actions Speak Louder than Medals”, VF-781 “Pacemaker”, USS Oriskany (CV-34), November 1952**

In 1952, then-Lieutenant Williams was serving with VF-781 aboard the USS Oriskany (CV-34) as part of Task Force 77. On November 18th, 1952, on his second mission of the day, while on combat air patrol near Hoeryong, North Korea, his group of four pilots spotted seven MiG-15s overhead. The other three pilots had to return to the carrier and the MiGs began to fire on Williams, putting him into a one-man dogfight with seven MiG-15s that lasted 35 minutes. It is believed to be the longest dogfight in U.S. Naval history. Commanders on his carrier ordered him away, but Williams had to tell them that he was already fighting for his life. He shot down four of the MiGs and likely hit two others. By the end of the 35-minute engagement, only one of the MiGs was still in the air with him, and he managed to escape back to his carrier, out of ammunition and having lost his hydraulics. He was uninjured, but 263 holes were counted in his Panther jet. He never saw the plane again; reportedly, it was pushed into the sea.

The US Navy’s record of the November 1952 incident said only that Williams had shot down one enemy (not listed as “Soviet”) plane and damaged another, for which he was awarded the Silver Star in 1953. However, the dogfight was recorded in Soviet archives which were released after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. The Soviet records confirmed that of the seven MiGs, only one returned to its base. A 2014 Russian book, Red Devils over the Yalu: A Chronicle of Soviet Aerial Operations in the Korean War 1950-53, reported the battle and named Williams. The four MiGs were flown by Soviet Naval Aviation pilots, with Captains Belyakov and Vandalov, and Lieutenants Pakhomkin and Tarshinov being shot down. In his book Holding the Line about Task Force 77, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver described the fight, saying “On November 18th, 1952, Royce Williams became the top-scoring carrier-based naval aviator and the top-scoring naval aviator in a Navy jet of the ‘forgotten war’.” He added, “In the fight of his life, Royce Williams had accomplished what no other American fighter pilot would ever accomplish: shoot down four MiG-15s in one fight.”

Williams’ battle with the Soviet-piloted MiGs led to him being debriefed at the time by admirals, the Secretary of Defense, and a few weeks later by newly inaugurated President Dwight D. Eisenhower. These authorities made a decision to cover up the specifics of the battle, because at that time the Soviet Union was not officially a combatant in the Korean War and it was feared that publicity about the air battle would draw the Soviets further into the conflict. The dogfight was scrubbed from U.S. Navy and National Security Agency records, and Williams was sworn to secrecy about the incident – so much so that he never told anyone about it, not even his wife nor his pilot brother, until the Korean War records were declassified in 2002.

Two versions of Williams’ F9F-5 Panther fighter are scheduled to take to the skies in November.

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Product Spotlight: Moon Rise – Birth of the Wild Weasel

**Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF McDonnell F-4G Wild Weasel Fighter-Bomber – 69-7582, 52nd Tactical Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem AB, Germany, 1988**

Wild Weasel is a code name given by the United States Air Force (USAF) to an aircraft of any type equipped with anti-radiation missiles and tasked with the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD): destroying the radar and surface-air-to-missile (SAM) installations of enemy air defense systems. The task of a Wild Weasel aircraft is to bait enemy anti-aircraft defenses into targeting it with their radars, whereupon the radar waves are traced back to their source, allowing the Weasel or its teammates to precisely target it for destruction.

The Wild Weasel concept was developed by the USAF in 1965 during the Vietnam War after the introduction of Soviet SAMs and their downing of American strike aircraft participating in Operation Rolling Thunder in the skies over North Vietnam. The program was headed by General Kenneth Dempster. “The first Wild Weasel success came soon after the first Wild Weasel mission 20 December 1965 when Captains Al Lamb and Jack Donovan took out a site during a Rolling Thunder strike on the railyard at Yen Bai, some 75 mi (120 km) northwest of Hanoi.” Wild Weasel tactics and techniques were later adapted by other nations in subsequent conflicts, as well as being integrated into the suppression of enemy air defenses, a plan used by U.S. air forces to establish immediate air supremacy prior to possible full-scale conflict.

Initially known by the operational code “Iron Hand” when first authorized on August 12th, 1965, the term “Wild Weasel” derives from Project Wild Weasel, the USAF development program for a dedicated SAM-detection and suppression aircraft. The technique was also called an “Iron Hand” mission, though technically this term referred only to the suppression attack before the main strike. Originally named “Project Ferret”, denoting a predatory animal that goes into its prey’s den to kill it (hence: “to ferret out”), the name was changed to differentiate it from the code-name “Ferret” that had been used during World War II for radar countermeasures bombers.

Hobby Master’s latest F-4G Wild Weasel is currently on track for an October fly-in, provided it can evade enemy radar.

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Product Spotlight: Some Gave All

**Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale US Navy Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet Strike Fighter – 165536, “Top Gun”, NAS Fallon, Nevada, 2020**

The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (SFTI program), more popularly known as TOPGUN, teaches fighter and strike tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators and naval flight officers, who return to their operating units as surrogate instructors. It began as the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, established on March 3rd, 1969, at the former Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California. In 1996, the school was merged into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada.

In 1968, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Thomas Hinman Moorer ordered Captain Frank Ault to research the failings of the U.S. air-to-air missiles used in combat in the skies over North Vietnam. Operation Rolling Thunder, which lasted from March 2nd, 1965, to November 1st, 1968, ultimately saw almost 1,000 U.S. aircraft losses in about one million sorties. Rolling Thunder became the Rorschach test for the Navy and Air Force, which drew nearly opposite conclusions

The United States Navy Fighter Weapons School was established on March 3rd, 1969, at Naval Air Station Miramar, California. Placed under the control of the VF-121 “Pacemakers,” an F-4 Phantom-equipped Replacement Air Group (RAG) unit, the new school received relatively scant funding and resources. Its staff consisted of eight F-4 Phantom II instructors from VF-121 and one intelligence officer hand-picked by the school’s first officer-in-charge, Lieutenant Commander Dan Pedersen, USN. Together, F-4 aviators Darrell Gary, Mel Holmes, Jim Laing, John Nash, Jim Ruliffson, Jerry Sawatzky, J. C. Smith, Steve Smith, as well as Wayne Hildebrand, a naval intelligence officer, built the Naval Fighter Weapons School syllabus from scratch. To support their operations, they borrowed aircraft from its parent unit and other Miramar-based units, such as composite squadron VC-7 and Fighter Squadron VF-126. The school’s first headquarters at Miramar was in a stolen modular trailer.

According to the 1973 command history of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, the unit’s purpose was to “train fighter air crews at the graduate level in all aspects of fighter weapons systems including tactics, techniques, procedures and doctrine. It serves to build a nucleus of eminently knowledgeable fighter crews to construct, guide, and enhance weapons training cycles and subsequent aircrew performance. This select group acts as the F-4 community’s most operationally orientated weapons specialists. TOPGUN’s efforts are dedicated to the Navy’s professional fighter crews, past, present and future.”

Highly qualified instructors were an essential element of TOPGUN’s success. Mediocre instructors are unable to hold the attention of talented students. TOPGUN instructors were knowledgeable fighter tacticians assigned to one or more specific fields of expertise, such as a particular weapon, threat, or tactic. Every instructor was required to become an expert in effective training techniques. All lectures were given without notes after being screened by a notorious “murder board” of evaluators who would point out ambiguities or flawed concepts in the draft presentation. The curriculum was in a constant state of flux based upon class critiques and integration of developing tactics to use new systems to combat emerging threats. Instructors often spent their first year on the staff learning to be an effective part of the training environment.

The scheme shown here was afforded a prominent role in the recently released feature film Top Gun Maverick. You can nab the latest Top Gun Hornet later this month as part of Hobby Master’s October cache of military aircraft replicas.

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Product Spotlight: “The Star of Africa”

“As a fighter pilot he was absolutely supreme. Above all, he possessed lightning reflexes and could make a quicker judgement in a bigger orbit than anyone else… Marseille was unique.”
Eduard Neumann, commander of Jagdgeschwader 27 ‘Afrika’ during the North African Campaign from 1941 to 1943

**Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale German Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4 “Friedrich” Fighter – “Yellow 14”, Hans-Joachim Marseille, 3./Jagdgeschwader 27 “Afrika”, Libya, February 1942**

Regarded by many of his contemporaries as the most naturally gifted fighter pilot ever to take to the air, Hans-Joachim Marseille would make the clear blue skies of North Africa his hunting ground and the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter ‘Yellow 14’ his feared mount. Claiming 158 victories from 382 sorties flown, 151 of these were scored over the deserts of North Africa, making him the top scoring Luftwaffe ace in the Mediterranean theatre, gaining more victories against Western Allied airmen than any other pilot. Tragically, as was the case with so many of the young men who fought during WWII, the ‘Star of Africa’ would not survive the conflict and indeed would not live to see his 23rd birthday.

On September 30th, 1942, Marseille was leading his Squadron on a mission to support a flight of Stukas when his new Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 fighter developed engine problems. With the cockpit filling with noxious fumes and unable to see out of the canopy, he relied on his wingman to guide him over friendly lines, before he could attempt to bale out. Once over German held territory, with the effects of smoke inhalation now causing disorientation, he turned the fighter on its back and rolled out of the cockpit. With the aircraft now adopting a nose down attitude, Marseille struck the tail of the Messerschmitt, probably killing him instantly and sending his lifeless body tumbling to the desert floor – the ‘Star of Africa’ had fallen.

A significant turning point in the career of Hans Joachim Marseille occurred in early 1941 when he was posted to North Africa, well away from distractions which had previously brought him so much trouble, now coming under the guidance of Commander Eduard Neumann. Neumann saw something special in Marseille and encouraged him to train himself to be a better fighter pilot and realize his combat potential – his style of man management seemed to suit Marseille, who began a regime of physical exercise and careful diet, strengthening his legs and abdominal muscles to better withstand the forces impost on a pilot during dogfighting. Unlike many of the other pilots of Jagdgeschwader 27, Marseille would never wear sunglasses during sorties, as he wanted his eyes to become accustomed to the harsh lighting in the desert. Significantly, he began to take a keen interest in his aircraft, preferring to spend much of his free time with his crew chief, or studying the art of deflection shooting, ensuring that he was better prepared for his next meeting with the enemy. With ever increasing regularity, these meetings would result in Marseille recording more victories and displaying exceptional flying ability and split second tactical awareness in the process – the ‘Star of Africa’ was beginning to shine.

The death of Hans Joachim Marseille was a terrible blow for the pilots of Jagdgeschwader 27 and indeed the entire German nation, who had started to think that the charismatic Marseille was invincible in the air. Facing increasingly superior numbers of Allied fighters in North Africa and with Rommel and his Afrika Korps now very much on the retreat, the Luftwaffe would never regain superiority of these desert skies again and it would not be long before the fighters of Jagdgeschwader 27 were redeployed to Northern France.

Eduard Neumann said of Marseille “As a fighter pilot he was absolutely supreme. Above all, he possessed lightning reflexes and could make a quicker judgement in a bigger orbit than anyone else… Marseille was unique.”

**The distinctive yellow, black and brown crest of Jagdgeschwader 27 “Afrika”, signifying, in rather colorful fashion, its role in the aerial campaign over North Africa**

Adolf Galland, himself one of the most celebrated Luftwaffe fighter aces of WWII, described Marseille as “An unrivaled virtuoso among the fighter pilots of World War II. His achievements had previously been regarded as impossible and they were never excelled by anyone after his death.”

Marseilles’ formidable 1:48 scale Bf-109F, Hobby Master’s first “Friedrich” version of the stalwart Messerschmitt Bf-109, is currently on track for an October release.

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Product Spotlight: Aloft Anew – The Final Days of the Luftwaffe

**Corgi’s 1:72 scale German Messerschmitt Me 262A-1A Fighter – Leutnant Walter Hagenah, “Yellow 17”, Jagdgeschwader 3 “Udet”, Germany, 1945**

One of the most advanced WWII combat aircraft, the Me 262 operated as a light bomber, reconnaissance, and experimental night fighter. The Me 262 proved an effective dogfighter against Allied fighters; German pilots claimed 542 Allied aircraft shot down, although higher claims have sometimes been made. The aircraft had reliability problems because of strategic materials shortages and design compromises with its Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow turbojet engines. Late-war Allied attacks on fuel supplies also reduced the aircraft’s effectiveness. Armament production within Germany was focused on more easily manufactured aircraft. Ultimately, the Me 262 had little effect on the war because of its late introduction and the small numbers that entered service.

While still in its nascent stage, direct interference from senior military commanders severely restricted the effectiveness of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet, as they procrastinated about whether it should be used as a fighter, or a bomber. Luftwaffe pilot Franz Gapp perfectly illustrated this problem – a highly decorated bomber pilot, who flew more than 400 missions, mainly in the Ju-88 fighter-bomber, Gapp transferred to an Me 262 attack unit, where it was hoped the speed of the new jet would see significant strategic bombing successes.

One of the most interesting engagements involving a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter during WWII occurred on April 10th, 1945, when pilot Lt Walther Hagenah and his wingman were ordered to intercept a heavy raid of USAAF bombers attacking an area north of Berlin. Knowing they would be massively outnumbered by Allied aircraft, the pair intended to attack the formation at high speed, using cannon and their underwing mounted R4M unguided rocket projectiles to break up the formation and spread confusion.

With the mighty bomber stream in sight, Hagenah noticed a flight of six American P-51D Mustangs above them, which immediately dropped their external fuel tanks as they dived in to attack. Hagenah’s experience told him that if he turned to face them, or made any violent evasive maneuver, the speed of the Mustangs would soon bring him into their gunsights, so instead, he pushed the throttles to full power and began a gentle dive towards the ground, but crucially, not changing heading.

His wingman decided to take a different course of action, turning to face the Mustangs and immediately being enveloped in a hail of .50 calibre bullets. With his own jet now at full speed, Hagenah expertly positioned his Messerschmitt for an attack on the American fighters, opening up on them with everything he had, including ripple-firing his R4M rockets at the enemy fighter formation. In his memoirs, he later recalled how two of the Mustangs were hit by rockets and immediately fell out of the sky, but having made his defiant gesture, he now needed to find the nearest Luftwaffe airfield, as he was dangerously low on fuel. Unfortunately, the airfield at Larz was under attack by swarms of strafing USAAF fighters, but with his fuel situation now critical, he had no option but to land the jet with American fighters still in the overhead.

Combat record keeping at this stage of the war has proved notoriously difficult to corroborate historically, particularly when it came to those submitted by Luftwaffe pilots and despite the availability of Hagenah’s personal recollection in this case, he would only be credited with a single Mustang victory during this engagement. Corresponding USAAF records did little to help corroborate his claims, even though reports filed from the American bombers they were ordered to attack did confirm the presence of rocket carrying Messerschmitt Me 262 jets on the day in question.

In fact, even the individual aircraft Hagenah used for this sortie cannot be definitively corroborated, however ‘Yellow 17’ was one of the jets on the airfield that day and was also one of the machines equipped with the R4M rocket projectiles. One of the most unusual combat engagements of the Second World War, it is thought that this was the only time a USAAF fighter was brought down during an operational sortie using an unguided rocket projectile fired from a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet. If Lt. Hagenah’s account is to be believed, the April 10th,1945, encounter witnessed a truly unique combat engagement in the skies above Berlin.

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Product Spotlight: A Murder of Crows

**Forces of Valor’s 1:72 scale US Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow Attack Helicopter – 1-227 ATKHB, 11th Aviation Regiment (Attack), 1st Cavalry Division, Karbala, Iraq, March 2003**

An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament they are sometimes called helicopter gunships.

Attack helicopters can use weapons including auto cannons, machine guns, rockets, and anti-tank missiles such as the AGN-114 Hellfire. Some attack helicopters are also capable of carrying air-to-air missiles, though mostly for purposes of self-defense against other helicopters and low-flying light combat aircraft.

The Boeing AH-64 Apache is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tail wheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. It is armed with a 30mm (1.18in) M230 chan gun carried between the main landing gear, under the aircraft’s forward fuselage, and four hard points mounted on stub-wing pylons for carrying armament and stores, typically a mixture of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles and Hydro 70 rocket pods. The AH-64 has significant systems redundancy to improve combat survivability.

A modern attack helicopter has two primary roles: first, to provide direct and accurate close air support for ground troops; and second, the anti-tank role to destroy grouped enemy armor. Attack helicopters are also used as protective escort for transport helicopters, or to supplement lighter helicopters in the armed reconnaissance roles. In combat, an attack helicopter is projected to destroy targets worth around 17 times its own production cost before being destroyed.

The Apache began as the Model 77 developed by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army’s Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the AH-1 Cobra. The prototype YAH-64 was first flown on 30 September 1975. The U.S. Army selected the YAH-64 over the Bell YAH-63 in 1976, and later approved full production in 1982. After acquiring Hughes Helicopters in 1984, McDonnell Douglas continued AH-64 production and development. The helicopter was introduced to U.S. Army service in April 1986. The advanced AH-64D Apache Longbow was delivered to the Army in March 1997. Production has been continued by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, with over 2,400 AH-64s being produced by 2020.

The U.S. Army is the primary operator of the AH-64. It has also become the primary attack helicopter of multiple nations, including Greece, Japan, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. It has been built under license in the United Kingdom as the AgustaWestland Apache. American AH-64s have served in conflicts in Panama, the Persian Gulf Kosovo Afghanistan, and Iraq. Israel used the Apache in its military conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaz Strip. British and Dutch Apaches have seen deployments in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The AH-64D Apache Longbow is equipped with a glass cockpit and advanced sensors, the most noticeable of which being the AN/APG-78 Longbow millimeter-wave fire-control radar (FCR) target acquisition system and the Radar Frequency Interferometer (RFI), housed in a dome located above the main rotor. The radome’s raised position enables target detection while the helicopter is behind obstacles (e.g. terrain, trees or buildings). The AN/APG-78 is capable of simultaneously tracking up to 128 targets and engaging up to 16 at once; an attack can be initiated within 30 seconds. A radio modem integrated with the sensor suite allows data to be shared with ground units and other Apaches, allowing them to fire on targets detected by a single helicopter.

The aircraft is powered by a pair of up-rated T700-GE-701C engines. The forward fuselage was expanded to accommodate new systems to improve survivability, navigation, and ‘tactical internet’ communications capabilities. In February 2003, the first Block II Apache was delivered to the U.S. Army, featuring digital communications upgrades. The Japanese Apache AH-64DJP variant is based on the AH-64D; it can be equipped with the AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missiles for self-defense.

Forces of Valor’s upcoming pair of 1:72 scale AH-64D Apache attack helicopters are currently on the docket for an October release. Pre-orders are still being accepted.

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Product Spotlight: Ice Packed

**Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale Russian Pantsir-S1 Self-Propelled Air Defense System – Russian Arctic Defense Forces, Winter Camouflage**

Russia has been quietly investing in Arctic military and industrial infrastructure for the last decade. Russia’s expanded Arctic presence is part of President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to elevate Russia’s position on the world stage. The current age has seen relatively low-tension in the region, but this may be coming to an end. Russia has reopened Soviet military bases and expanded the navy’s Northern Fleet. Russia seeks to increase its military power in the Arctic to enhance homeland defense and secure Russia’s economic future by attracting international investment.

Melting sea ice intensifies competition in the Arctic. Climate change is increasing accessibility to the Northern Sea Route. Increased Arctic traffic heightens the potential for competition around physical access and resources. Moscow views securitizing the region through military activity as a prerequisite for controlling its interests in the rapidly changing Arctic. Russia has encouraged energy companies to increase exploration activities in the Arctic to reap the economic benefits of reserves being uncovered by melting Arctic ice.

Russia sees its assertive military posture as a response to NATO’s presence in the region, as several NATO members hold territory in the Arctic. Former NATO commander Adm. James Stavridis acknowledges that the Arctic is a “zone of competition” that has the potential to devolve into a “zone of conflict.” Russia’s militarization of the Arctic has pushed Arctic and NATO countries to call for the preservation of the Arctic as a ‘low tension’ area. Growing tensions with the West risks miscommunication that could lead to conflict or an even more assertive Russian military posture in the Arctic.

53% of the Arctic coastline belongs to Russia. Its Arctic military bases are concentrated mostly around Murmansk Oblast, but in recent years Russia has expanded capabilities in the High North. Russia has taken full advantage of its arctic territory. Wrangel Island, Cape Schmidt, and Kotelny Island developments are right across the Bering Strait from Alaska. Visualizing Russia’s Arctic presence shows the density of Russia’s military infrastructure in the region. (Courtesy: ASP)

Looking to defend their strategic interests, the Pantsir (Russian: “Carapace”) missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Starting with the Pantsir-S1 (NATO reporting name SA-22 Greyhound) as the first version, it is produced by KBP Instrument Design Bureau of Tula, Russia.

**Great emblem of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Armed Forces**

The Pantsir-S1 was designed to provide point air defense of military, industrial and administrative installations against aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and UAVs; and to provide additional protection to air defense units against enemy air attacks employing precision munitions, especially at low to extremely low altitudes.

**Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale Russian Pantsir-S1 Self-Propelled Air Defense System – Russian Aerospace Defense Forces, Woodlands Camouflage**

Panzerkampf’s latest iteration of the Pantsir-S1 self-propelled air defense system, along with a tr-colored camouflaged version, to trundle up to the North Pole this September.

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Product Spotlight: On Wings of Steel

**Corgi’s 1:72 scale USAAF Lockheed P-38L Lightning Interceptor – Col. Charles McDonald, “Putt Putt Maru”, 432nd Fighter Squadron “Clover”, 475th Fighter Group, Philippines, 1945**

Having seen the introduction of advanced monoplane fighter designs in both the German and Japanese air forces, America was only too aware that their own Air Force was in need of upgrade as a matter of urgency. To this end, an official requirement was issued in February 1937 for the production of a new pursuit fighter, an aircraft which would have to possess performance which had never previously been seen, not only on an American aircraft, but anywhere else in the world. The Lockheed Aircraft Company were one of six companies determined to satisfy this demanding requirement and entrusted the design of this radical new aircraft to talented designer Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson, who was basically given a free rein during its development. Almost immediately, he determined that a single engined aircraft could not satisfy these demanding specifications and started work on a twin engined design, one which featured twin booms to house the engines and superchargers, with a centrally positioned nacelle for the cockpit and the fighter’s heavy armament.

The new aircraft looked incredible and was a radical departure from any fighter aircraft design that had gone before it, with Lockheed being awarded a contract to produce a prototype example. The XP38 was a thing of beauty and after just a short 38 minute maiden flight, everyone at Lockheed knew they had a winner on their hands. In fact, officials were so impressed with the aircraft’s performance that they immediately decided to make an attempt on the US Transcontinental speed record to highlight its potential, an attempt which saw the XP38 shatter the existing record by an impressive 23 minutes. Unfortunately, it appears that officials at the destination airport were not expecting the arrival of the strange new fighter and kept it holding so long that it actually ran out of fuel and had to make an emergency landing on a local golf course. Nevertheless, the aircraft had shown its potential and the US Army Air Force ordered sixty-six aircraft and America had their first 400 mph fighter.

The introduction of the P-38 Lightning was not without its problems, however, this was not surprising bearing in mind its performance and configuration were so radically different to anything which had gone before it. Almost constant development would see the Lightning develop into a devastatingly effective high altitude interceptor and with engines which both drove outwardly rotating propellors, also eventually proved to be an incredibly stable aircraft. Possessing impressive range and firepower, the Lightning would eventually be used to avenge the Pearl Harbor attack, when sixteen P-38s of the 339th Fighter Squadron intercepted a bomber carrying Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of that infamous raid, and shot it down. The P-38 Lightning would go on to serve with distinction in both the Pacific and European theatres, one of the most capable and distinctive aircraft of the Second World War.

For US fighter pilot Charles Henry ‘Mac’ MacDonald, the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941 left him with a determination to do his duty in ensuring this disastrous day for America would only result in their eventual victory. Joining the USAAF and gaining his wings in May 1939, he would first be assigned to the 55th Pursuit Group and then on to the 18th Pursuit Group at Wheeler Field, Hawaii in early 1941 and was still there at the time of the Japanese surprize attack, arguably the darkest day in American military history. His continued service would see him gaining ever more responsibility and new postings, first back home in the US to train new pilots, then on to the savage fighting of the Pacific War. By October 1943, he had attained the rank of Major and was posted as the Executive Officer of the 475th Fighter Group’s ‘Satan’s Angels’, flying P-38 Lightnings out of Dobodura, New Guinea, where his reputation as a fighter ace and effective leader of men would soon be forged. Often asking his men to fly dangerous long range missions in their Lightnings over vast expanses of ocean, MacDonald, would often be the first aircraft into the air, leading from the from and inspiring his pilots to make their mark on the war.

Eventually attaining the rank of Colonel, MacDonald became the Commanding Officer of the 475th Fighter Group and during this time, would welcome the arrival of a rather famous civilian advisor to the unit, long range aviator and US national hero Charles Lindbergh, who was cleared to fly with the unit. During his time in the Pacific, Lindbergh would help the 475th unlock the awesome potential of the P-38, using his knowledge of long range engine management to alter the power and fuel settings of their aircraft, modifications which extended the range of the Lightning by an incredible 100%. Now, ‘Colonel Mac’ and the pilots of the 475th could provide fighter cover for bombers attacking the Japanese oil refineries at Balikpapan in Borneo, with flight times of between twelve and fourteen hours needing to be flown. This raid was pivotal in turning the tide of the Pacific War and preparing American forces for the final push towards the Japanese home islands.

Colonel ‘Mac’ Macdonald would end the war with 27 aerial victories, with several others either damaged or probably destroyed, making him the third most successful fighter ace in the Pacific Theatre. All victories were scored using the Lockheed P-38 Lightning and whilst he would use several different machines, they were all named ‘PUTT… PUTT… MARU’. It is not known for sure what this name refers to, but it is thought that it could be a reference to the Japanese supply barges the unit were often sent to destroy, vessels which were referred to as Marus, with their rather agricultural engines making a putt putt chugging sound. Whatever the case, if they were in the sights of a 475th Fighter Group P-38 Lightning, they were on borrowed time.

Putt Putt Maru is expected to land later in September.

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