Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution

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“Fascinating . . . a soup-to-nuts—or ground-to-air—history of the world’s most potent unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV.” ―The Wall Street Journal

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. As Richard Whittle shows in Predator, it was one of the most profound developments in the history of military and aerospace technology.

Once considered fragile toys, drones were long thought to be of limited utility. 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. 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. 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.

Based 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.

“Fresh and authoritative . . . [Whittle] delivers action-packed details about how the CIA and the Pentagon used armed Predators to hunt for al-Qaeda leaders immediately after 9/11.” ―The Washington Post

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00IWVAA0Y
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Henry Holt and Co.
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 16, 2014
Edition ‏ : ‎ First
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4.6 MB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 381 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0805099652
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Customers say

Customers find the book provides fascinating descriptions of history and insider information about the drone program, with one customer noting it offers a thorough understanding of the chain of events. Moreover, the writing style is well-executed and easy to read, making it an engaging and entertaining read with the right amount of detail. However, the story pace receives mixed reactions, with some customers finding it bogged down.