predator the secret origins of the drone revolution

Whittle's exploration of drone technology goes back to the beginning-to a boy who was fascinated with model airplanes-and because he takes a story-teller's view to the whole of drone technology's history, this book is far more readable than one might expect.

We see its' early use in Bosnia, and witness its' transformation during the War on Terror, and how legal and ethical questions are still being hammered out as the technology becomes more entrenched in our society, for both military and civilian use.Highly recommended for technology and history buffs alike! Read more That in and of itself is an interesting story, but the book goes beyond to show us the political wranglings that sought to abort the programs and the behind the scenes machinations that kept it alive until its' usefulness could be proven and its' coming indispensability noncounterable. It's a fascinating glimpse into the vision of the brilliant pioneers and the technological hurdles they had to surmount to make the UAV not only become a viable flying machine, but one that could stay aloft for increasingly long periods of time. Predator brings us along on a ride that was as unsteady and uncertain as the development and lack of support that the UAV received within the military community. When an Air Force team unleashed the first lethal drone strikes in 2001 for the CIA, the military's view of drones changed nearly overnight.īased on five years of research and hundreds of interviews, Predator reveals the dramatic inside story of the creation of a revolutionary weapon that forever changed the way we wage war and opened the door to a new age in aviation.

The remarkable cast of characters responsible for developing the Predator includes a former Israeli inventor who turned his Los Angeles garage into a drone laboratory, two billionaire brothers marketing a futuristic weapon to help combat Communism, a pair of fighter pilots willing to buck their white-scarf fraternity, a cunning Pentagon operator nicknamed 'Snake,' and a secretive Air Force organization known as Big Safari. The Predator itself was resisted at nearly every turn by the military establishment, but a few iconoclasts refused to see this new technology smothered at birth.

Once considered fragile toys, drones were long thought to be of limited utility. As Richard Whittle shows in Predator, it was one of the most profound developments in the history of military and aerospace technology. The creation of the first weapon in history whose operators can stalk and kill an enemy on the other side of the globe was far more than clever engineering.

The untold story of the birth of the Predator drone, a wonder weapon that transformed the American military, reshaped modern warfare, and sparked a revolution in aviation

Predator the secret origins of the drone revolution