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Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution

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Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution

Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution

Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution
“Fresh and authoritative … [Whittle] delivers action packed details about how the CIA and the Pentagon armed Predators to hunt used for Al-Qaeda leaders immediately after 9/11.”
-The Washington Post

the creation of the first weapon in history that can sneak up and kill an enemy on the other side of the world was much more than clever engineering. As Richard Whittle shows Predator, it was one of the most significant developments in the history of the military and aerospace technology.A comment

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Reviews


Predator – The Secret Origins of Drone Revolution – Highly Recommended Book september 20, 2014

Dr. Larry Leibrock (Idaho State University) – See all my reviews

This review is from: Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution (Hardcover)

This is a valuable and insightful narrative account of the people bureaucratic tensions, technologies and actions with respect to the iterative design and subsequent implementation of the Predator / Surveillance and Predator / Hellfire aerial drone weapons platforms.

the book is masterful at describing the role of innovators, bureaucrats, and war-fighters. the understanding of the effects of technological innovations, decisions and policy decisions at the CIA, Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force and the Clinton / Bush White-house is valuable to readers are interested in the national strategy and the American military issues.

the insights and opinions of political positioning and Washington power struggles are at once disturbing and intrinsically valuable for students of defense policy. The writing style is superb and his use of personal memory and official documents is masterful. . This is a valuable and useful book for both specialists and general readers

I recommend the Predator -. The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution
Thank you for reading my review.

A brilliant story of innovation, with vivid profiles of the major players October 18, 2014

Kenneth P. Katz See all my reviews 

this review is from: Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution (Hardcover)

If the US military wants a new weapon system follows an extensive process. Sometimes the process succeeds brilliantly, producing world-class weapons like the F-15 Eagle fighter and the M1 Abrams tank. Somehow the process fails, the most notorious recent example is the F-22 Raptor fighter spectacularly in state, but was too expensive to buy in sufficient quantities. but what the system almost never produces true innovation. it may sound strange to some filled with leading edge technology, such as the F-22 Raptor is not innovative to describe. but a P-51 Mustang pilot in 1944, at the sight of an F-22 could be stunned and amazed by the features and performance of the F-22 still would immediately understand role and mission. the F-22 is essentially a much improved P-51.

Real innovation in military technology tends outside the mainstream acquisition system to come, and there is no better example of that than what variously called the Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) , remotely piloted aircraft (PRA) or simply drone. The US military has a long history with this class of aircraft, starting with “aerial torpedoes” (rudimentary soil test-launched cruise missiles, but not used during the First World War) and target drones were flown essentially large versions of the radio controlled airplanes by hobbyists. In the 1960s, drones with cameras flew reconnaissance missions over China and Vietnam. But drones were always a rarity, electronics technology really was not mature enough for the concept, and pilots who ran the US Air Force had not liked drones.

Following on the heels of his splendid book on the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor (the Dream Machine), author Richard Whittle tells the story of the Predator, a slow and fragile-looking drone air warfare has revolutionized. Still in 2001, drones were on the margins of the US army, an interesting but marginal program. but the development and maturation of the Predator enabled it to be the right system at the right time after the United States went to war in 2001, and today the US Air Force will train more pilots for drones than fighter and bomber pilots.

Whittle’s book is mainly about people, including a brilliant but cranky Israeli inventor, two enterprising brothers, a smart Pentagon staff officer, an Air Force helicopter pilot turned drone flyer, and a number of smart and resourceful engineers in both the industry and the military. The profiles of these people are alive. The story in the book is compelling, starting with concepts that led to the Predator and ending with the fight over Afghanistan. Along the way, politics, lobbying, bureaucracy, technology and world events the shape of the Predator. Whittle weaves the story in an interesting way.

This book is neither a rigorous technical description of the Predator, nor a complete operational history of it. Rather, it is a story of innovation and adaptation, about how the signature weapon system of the War on Terror came to be. It’s a wonderful book, and I recommend it most enthusiastically.

This review is from: Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution (Hardcover)

Predator by Richard Whittle captures the true story of what happened in the development of military unmanned aircraft. He is the real deal. Excellent writing and presentation is icing on the cake. Bravo to spend the time and energy to get it right.

Lt. Brian Raduenz Col. US Air Force (Ret.)

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