Elward, Brad and Peter Davies. U.S. Navy F-4 Phantom II MiG Killers 1972-73.

Osprey (UK). Distributed in the U.S. by MBI Publishing, 729 Prospect Ave., PO Box 1, Osceola, WI 54020. 2002.96 pp. Ill. $18.95.

The second volume in a detailed examination of aerial action during the Vietnam War, No. 30 in the Osprey Combat Aircraft series, describes engagements during the last year of combat. This period also came after the start of the Navy's Top Gun program that sought to reverse the declining trend in kill-loss ratios experienced by American Navy flight crews in the first half of the war. Many of the late-war MiG killers credited their victories to the intense training they received before going on deployment.

The new book includes photos and color profiles of many of the F-4 MiG killers. The collection of color and black-and-white photos show the men and machines well, and Jim Laurier's artwork is outstanding.

The accounts are in chronological order, with a large section given to the encounters of 10 May 1972 that eventually yielded 11 American kills, including eight by Navy crews. The three-kill mission by VF-96's team of Cunningham and Driscoll is featured, but there are other aviators whose missions on that busy day are also described.

It is fascinating to consider that all but three of these crews shot down only one MiG. (A fourth RIO, Kevin Moore of VF-114, has the unique distinction of being the only Navy back-seater to achieve victories over two types of MiGs with two different pilots.) Yet, the lore of the period and the aviators involved has lifted their exploits out of the simple history of the air war. In other conflicts, a single kill was relatively unimportant.

Volume 2 completes an interesting set of references and descriptions of some of the most intense engagements involving jet aircraft. This series and other related books by this prolific publisher continue to offer great value for the money.