Military Model Scene

Title:  Mirage III

Author: Salvador Mafe Huertas

Publisher:  Kagero

ISBN:  978-83-66148-47-5

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Another excellent new Monograph from Kagero, and this will be of special interest to anyone who studies the Falklands War of 1982, though I should say it does go beyond that as well. A 144-page softcover book, in addition to the Argentine Air Force service, the Israeli and Spanish use of the varnats are also included.
The book tells us the story of the Mirage in Argentine air force service, a service life whihc lasted 43. After the first batch of Mirage III airframes were delivered in September 1972, they were finally retired in 2015, with a celebratory fly-past. The story tells us how the first came into service, followed by additional variants which were supplied by IAI (Israeli Aircraft Industries). These were Israeli built versions of the Mirage V, known with their modifications as the Dagger and the Finger. They performed well during the Falklands conflict, and with additional aircraft, went on to serve for many more years.
As well as the details of their acquisition, training, operating squadrons, but there is also coverage of their use in combat, with a number of personal accounts from Argentine pilots who flew them against the British Task Force in the Falklands War. Among the numerous photos are plenty that show them during the war, and also including camera gun still in their attacks on various Royal Navy warships. While the Argentine use of the aircraft takes up most of the book, there are also shorter sections covering their use by both the Israeli and Spanish air forces. With colour and black & white pictures illustrating the story throughout the book, there are more plus weapons fit and gunsight diagrams plus 4 pages and the back cover with fine colour profiles
Another excellent Monograph in the series from Kagero and one I found interesting especially for hearing the memories of some Argentine pilots during the Falklands War of 1982, a time I remember well.

The balance of history, archive photos and the profile artwork make this fascinating for the aviation historian and equally good references for modellers, in whatever scale.  First class all round.

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Distributed by Casemate Books, who kindly provided my review copy.

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Robin