Predator tells the story of the real people whose insights, biases, and experience changed the realities of modern warfare." "All future attempts to understand the how and why of the drone era's beginnings, and the crucial personalities, disagreements, and decisions that shaped this technology, will be built on Richard Whittle's authoritative and original account. David Ignatius, columnist for The Washington Post and author of The Director.This book should be on the shelf of anyone who wants to understand military power in the 21st century." Like every revolution, this one had a colorful cast of characters, and Whittle tells their story with the insight and authority of a veteran military journalist, drawing on inside sources in the Air Force, the CIA and defense industry. Love it or hate it, the armed drone represented a transformation in military technology. Peter Bergen, author of Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad.Both deeply reported and very well written, Predator joins a very short list of books about the future of warfare that will engage any audience, from the specialist to the general reader." "Richard Whittle has delivered what will surely be the definitive history of how the United States came to arm its drones. Clarke, former National Security Council counter-terrorism director and author of Against All Enemies Whittle fully captures the political struggle that almost downed the nascent Predator program." "A brilliant and detailed account of the growing pains of the weapons system of the future. "Fascinating both as military history and as a look inside a hot contemporary social issue." "Engrossing… impressively researched, thought-provoking history." Whittle's account comes to a pointed conclusion: drone technology has already changed how we die, but what remains to be seen is how it 'may change the way people live.'" There's plenty of geekery befitting a Tom Clancy novel to keep readers entertained. "Endlessly interesting and full of implication. Department of Homeland Security, NASA, the Royal Air Force, the Italian Air Force, the French Air Force and the Spanish Air Force.Praise for Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution by Richard Whittle: To date, the MQ-9A has been acquired by the U.S. The MQ-9A Extended Range (ER) was designed with field-retrofittable capabilities such as wing-borne fuel pods and a new reinforced landing gear that extends the aircraft's already impressive endurance from 27 hours to 34 hours, while further increasing its operational flexibility. MQ-9A continues to improve and evolve, making it more relevant for its customers' emerging needs. MQ-9A is capable of carrying multiple mission payloads to include: Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR), Lynx ® Multi-mode Radar, multi-mode maritime surveillance radar, Electronic Support Measures (ESM), laser designators, and various weapons and payload packages. The aircraft is highly modular and is configured easily with a variety of payloads to meet mission requirements. MQ-9A is powered by the flight-certified and proven Honeywell TPE331-10 turboprop engine, integrated with Digital Electronic Engine Control (DEEC), which significantly improves engine performance and fuel efficiency, particularly at low altitudes. It is engineered to meet and exceed manned aircraft reliability standards. It provides a long-endurance, persistent surveillance/strike capability for the war fighter.Īn extremely reliable aircraft, MQ-9A is equipped with a fault-tolerant flight control system and triple redundant avionics system architecture. The aircraft carries 500% more payload and has nine times the horsepower. and Royal Air Force, but has become the widely used name for any Predator B equipped with weapons.įeaturing unmatched operational flexibility, MQ-9A has an endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS, can operate up to 50,000 feet, and has a 3,850 pound (1746 kilogram) payload capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1361 kilograms) of external stores. MQ-9A was designated "Reaper" by the U.S. MQ-9A "Reaper" is a highly sophisticated development built on the experience gained with the company's battle-proven Predator RPA and is a major evolutionary leap forward in overall performance and reliability. The turboprop-powered, multi-mission MQ-9A Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) was developed with GA-ASI funding and first flown in 2001. MQ-9A "Reaper" Persistent Multi-Mission ISR
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