Written by ex-RAF pilot Michael Napier, Over Cold War Seas describes the naval air power deployed by NATO, Warsaw Pact and neutral countries throughout the Cold War.

In 1949, an Iron Curtain was drawn across Europe, and the Cold War that ensued between the Western countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact lasted until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. During those four decades, NATO and Soviet naval forces patrolled the world’s oceans: the powerful forces of the US Navy’s Second Fleet guarded the North Atlantic, while the Sixth Fleet covered the Mediterranean. In 1955, the commissioning of the USS Forrestal marked the start of the age of the supercarrier, and the Soviet Union’s first aircraft carrier, the Kiev, entered service in 1975.

In Over Cold War Seas, ex-RAF pilot and respected aviation author Michael Napier examines the development of the naval and maritime air power of the major combatant forces from 1949 through to 1989. This detailed text is supported by a wide range of first-hand accounts of operational flying during the Cold War, as well as over 220 high-quality, contemporary images. All the major naval aircraft types which entered service from the 1950s are covered, including both fixed wing and helicopters, charting their evolution from limited capability machines into multi-purpose types capable of performing many roles.