Defending Rodinu - Volume 2, Europe@War No 26, Helion

DEFENDING RODINU - VOLUME 2: Build-up and Operational History of the Soviet Air Defence Force, 1960-1989

In the 1950s, the Soviets had managed to grow a major Air Defence Force (PVO) capable of covering the entire airspace of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The PVO was able to field interceptors and surface-to-air missiles to intercept even high-flying foreign reconnaissance aircraft. By the early 1960s, the Soviets managed to theoretically, seal their airspace to unwanted visitors. Nevertheless, multiple foreign intelligence agencies and air forces continued seeking to penetrate the airspace of the USSR by means ranging from non-steerable ‘spy blimps’, via strategic bombers, to high-speed tactical reconnaissance aircraft. This activity kept the PVO on constant alert so that time and again it reacted mercilessly, even to entirely innocent passenger airliners, causing several major international incidents. 

Defending Rodinu Volume 2 provides the operational history of the Soviet PVO from the early 1960s until the late 1980s – a period of continuously escalating tensions of the Cold War. Using documentation and publications never before released in the English language and richly illustrated, it provides a comprehensive, single-source point of reference for historians and enthusiasts alike.

Robin Buckland, MILITARY MODEL SCENE:

"Perhaps because there are plenty of stories in here that I remember from when they were in the news, but described in greater detail than I had seen before but I particularly enjoyed this one. Some had tragic consequences, others did not, and there are some stories I had not known about before as they never made the headlines at the time. I will say that I found the whole thing fascinating reading. The archive images and the section of colour profiles I always enjoy in this series of books, but the stories in this one I found I couldn't put down. Interesting how your own memories of a time can influence how you react to a particular book."