From its beginnings during World War I, the role of the dedicated night fighter aircraft and its pilots in the 21st century has evolved greatly. This work reflects the massive changes in technology and in tactics. It also covers the problems of tracking aerial targets by radar.

For readers of American Sniper, the stirring account of a life of service by the “father of the US Navy SEALs” One month after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, when President John F. Kennedy pressed Congress about America’s “urgent national needs,” he named expanding US special operations forces along with putting a man on the moon. Captain William Hamilton was the officer tasked with creating the finest unconventional warriors ever seen. Merging his own experience commanding Navy Underwater Demolition Teams with expertise from Army Special Forces and the CIA, and working with his subordinate, Roy Boehm, he cast the mold for sea-, air-, and land-dispatched night fighters capable of successfully completing any mission anywhere in the world. Initially, they were used as a counter to the potential devastation of nuclear war, and later for counterterrorism and hostage rescue. His vision led to the formation of the celebrated SEAL Team 6. In this stirring, action-filled book, Hamilton tells his story for the first time. Night Fighter is a trove of true adventure from the history of the late twentieth century, which Hamilton lived, from fighter pilot in the Korean War to operative for the CIA in Vietnam, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, and from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the Reagan White House’s Star Wars. Like American Sniper, here is the record of a life devoted to patriotic service. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

It's 1942 and, as Bomber Command's casualties mount, the British Government turn to the secretive K Department and its new weapon. A clandestine squadron, composed of pilots with an unusual medical condition that allows them to see in the dark.A condition that inspired the myth of vampires.

The true story of a legendary aviation commander. This biography of an American hero explores the intricacies of nightfighting during World War II and the specialized training involved. After a three-month crash course, Marion Milton Magruder, USMC, went on to lead the top scoring nightfighter squadron in the Pacific Theatre. Drawing upon primary sources, the author accurately captures the combat stories of Black Mac Magruder and his fellow nightfighters in breathtaking detail.

"Night Fighters examines the historical, technological. tactical, and strategic evolution of limited-visibility aerial combat as the air forces of Great Britain and Germany dueled in the night skies during World War II. The book is based on extensive research and interviews with the key planners and policy makers responsible for their respective national strategies governing the conduct of the nighttime air war, as well as with the airmen who fought the war, which makes it far more detailed than previous works on this subject. The science developed by both nations greatly increased the momentum and lethality of air combat in that conflict. In addition, this arena of World War II combat also produced many technological innovations, the results of which are seen today in everyday military and civilian life."--BOOK JACKET.

This is a compendium edition of the much regarded and long out of print Nachtjägervolumes in the acclaimed Classic Coloursseries on the aircraft, camouflage and markings of the Luftwaffe between 1933-1945. The book focuses on the operations and the aircraft of the Nachtjagdfrom its origins in the inter-war years through its desperate and climactic battles against the massed raids of RAF Bomber Command from 1943 onwards. The force evolved from using single-seat Bf 109s to twin-engined Bf 110s and Ju 88s, with advanced radar equipment and weapons systems, supported by a sophisticated ground reporting network. It produced many leading night fighter aces such as Wolfgang Falck, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer and Helmut Lent. As the war progressed and the strategic situation began to tilt away from Germany's favor so, ironically, the pace of development quickened with the Luftwaffe introducing uprated versions of the Ju 88 as well as new types such as the Do 217 and He 219 alongside the tactical innovation of 'Wilde Sau' night fighting which saw the return of single-seat Bf 109s and Fw 190s. In the last, desperate months of the war, even the Me 262 was introduced as a night fighter in limited numbers. Nachtjägeris an important resource for modellers and students of Luftwaffe history, providing a detailed narrative augmented by many photographs and specially commissioned color profiles.

As one of seventeen night fighter squadrons established during the course of World War II, the 421st Night Fighter Squadron carried the war into the night skies over the battlefields of the Southwest Pacific when most other fighter squadrons remained on the ground. In the squadron's years of service they would be based in a number of places ranging from New Guinea, Leyte, and finally ending up as an "Occupational" squadron in Japan after the war. The 421st NFS would be credited with thirteen kills, three damaged, one probable, and a number they simply never received credit for. On February 2, 1945 the 421st NFS would finally be deactivated and overnight become the 68th Fighter Squadron (All Weather). The history of the 421st however, would by no means end there. The 421st would again rise in later years as the 421st Tactical Fighter Squadron and fight in the skies of Vietnam, and later be one of the first squadrons flying in Operation Desert Storm â true to its tradition the 421st would fly night missions over Iraq.