by Matt J. Martin, with Charles W. Sasser
Hardcover, 5.75 x 8.75
320 pages, 16 color photos
ISBN: 978-0-7603-3896-4
$28.00 / $30.00 CAN / £20.00
Hardcover, 5.75 x 8.75
320 pages, 16 color photos
ISBN: 978-0-7603-3896-4
$28.00 / $30.00 CAN / £20.00
BUY NOW!
"...a fascinating tale of the challenges of flying a touchy, mule-stubborn, expensive robot from half a world away."
"...a fascinating tale of the challenges of flying a touchy, mule-stubborn, expensive robot from half a world away."
—Air & Space Smithsonian
To the enemy, they are the modern war’s version of the angel of death. To friendlies below, they are a much different kind of angel. They are the remotely piloted aircraft (RPA)—the rarely seen, often impactful aircraft of the 21st century battlefield.
The MQ-1 Predator is a RPA used for forward observation and reconnaissance as well as targeted attacks with its two Hellfire missiles. Frequently referred to as a drone or even a robot in the press, the insect-like craft is sometimes spoken of as though it were an autonomous machine, coldly killing according to its programming. In reality, the RPA has a crew like any other aircraft—except for the fact that the crew is not on board, but safely on the ground and sometimes half a world away from the missions they’re flying.
Predator: The Remote Control Air War Over Iraq and Afghanistan is Lt. Col. Matt J. Martin’s first-person account of fighting the Global War on Terror over Iraq and Afghanistan from the controls of an RPA. From his training in Nevada to being stationed in Iraq—where his base came under attack even if he was “safe” on the ground during Predator missions—Martin provides personal insights into a program that until recently was largely classified secret.
There are exciting stories of chasing and attacking armed insurgents in Baghdad and the desert countryside as well as heart-wrenching accounts of the inevitable collateral damage of urban warfare. Ironically, due to monitors fed by the Predator’s targeting camera, even if stationed far away from the action, these crews witness the effects of their attacks far more closely than traditional bomber crews physically present above their targets. Regardless of where the reader stands on the war, the myth of the Predator as a cold killing machine is put to rest through the struggles of the people serving in these remote-controlled battles against insurgents and terrorists.
About the Authors
Lt. Col. Matt J. Martin is a career U.S. Air Force officer and MQ-1 Predator Instructor Pilot and Chief of Safety currently stationed at Holloman Air Force Base. Lt Col Martin assists the Wing Commander in the execution of the aviation, ground, and weapons safety programs for all operations at Holloman AFB. His previous assignment was as the Chief of MQ-1/9 Operations, HQ Air Combat Command, where he oversaw the organization, training, and equipment programs for all Air Force MQ-1 and MQ-9 operations. During his years in the Predator program, he flew hundreds of missions and supervised thousands more. Martin received his B.A. in Political Science and History from Purdue University and his M.A. in International Studies from the University of Denver. He lives with his wife, Trish, in New Mexico. Predator is his first book.
Charles W. Sasser has been a full-time freelance writer/journalist/photographer since 1979. He is a veteran of both the U.S. Navy (journalist) and U.S. Army (Special Forces, the Green Berets) and retired from the military after twenty-nine years of active and reserve service. A combat veteran and former combat correspondent wounded in action, he also served fourteen years as a police officer and homicide detective. He is the author of more than fifty published books and three thousand magazine articles. In addition to writing full-time, he currently runs a horse ranch near Chouteau, Oklahoma, where he trains and breeds registered quarter horses and competes in rodeos.
The MQ-1 Predator is a RPA used for forward observation and reconnaissance as well as targeted attacks with its two Hellfire missiles. Frequently referred to as a drone or even a robot in the press, the insect-like craft is sometimes spoken of as though it were an autonomous machine, coldly killing according to its programming. In reality, the RPA has a crew like any other aircraft—except for the fact that the crew is not on board, but safely on the ground and sometimes half a world away from the missions they’re flying.
Predator: The Remote Control Air War Over Iraq and Afghanistan is Lt. Col. Matt J. Martin’s first-person account of fighting the Global War on Terror over Iraq and Afghanistan from the controls of an RPA. From his training in Nevada to being stationed in Iraq—where his base came under attack even if he was “safe” on the ground during Predator missions—Martin provides personal insights into a program that until recently was largely classified secret.
There are exciting stories of chasing and attacking armed insurgents in Baghdad and the desert countryside as well as heart-wrenching accounts of the inevitable collateral damage of urban warfare. Ironically, due to monitors fed by the Predator’s targeting camera, even if stationed far away from the action, these crews witness the effects of their attacks far more closely than traditional bomber crews physically present above their targets. Regardless of where the reader stands on the war, the myth of the Predator as a cold killing machine is put to rest through the struggles of the people serving in these remote-controlled battles against insurgents and terrorists.
About the Authors
Lt. Col. Matt J. Martin is a career U.S. Air Force officer and MQ-1 Predator Instructor Pilot and Chief of Safety currently stationed at Holloman Air Force Base. Lt Col Martin assists the Wing Commander in the execution of the aviation, ground, and weapons safety programs for all operations at Holloman AFB. His previous assignment was as the Chief of MQ-1/9 Operations, HQ Air Combat Command, where he oversaw the organization, training, and equipment programs for all Air Force MQ-1 and MQ-9 operations. During his years in the Predator program, he flew hundreds of missions and supervised thousands more. Martin received his B.A. in Political Science and History from Purdue University and his M.A. in International Studies from the University of Denver. He lives with his wife, Trish, in New Mexico. Predator is his first book.
Charles W. Sasser has been a full-time freelance writer/journalist/photographer since 1979. He is a veteran of both the U.S. Navy (journalist) and U.S. Army (Special Forces, the Green Berets) and retired from the military after twenty-nine years of active and reserve service. A combat veteran and former combat correspondent wounded in action, he also served fourteen years as a police officer and homicide detective. He is the author of more than fifty published books and three thousand magazine articles. In addition to writing full-time, he currently runs a horse ranch near Chouteau, Oklahoma, where he trains and breeds registered quarter horses and competes in rodeos.
From the pages of Predator:
From ten thousand feet in the sky I peered down upon . . . a technical college taken over by insurgents in the heart of Baghdad. It was after midnight. Streets were unlighted or poorly lighted. . . . Using an infrared sensor to register heat signatures, I picked out machine-gun and rocket-propelled-grenade fire coming from top windows of the college, a blink-blink-blink of muzzle flashes that pinned down a squad of U.S. Army mechanized infantry on the wrong side of the Euphrates River.
I carried a pair of Hellfire missiles beneath my wings, but my task was not to engage the enemy directly. Instead, I was to coordinate with and mark targets for an AC-130U “Spooky.”. . . As soon as the gunship reported on-site in the night below me, my sensor operator and I began to “sparkle” targets with our infrared marking laser, lighting them up for IR sensors to detect. The Spooky opened fire with the sound of skies ripping apart on doomsday. . . .
Hostile incoming suppressed, the army ground commander came on the radio and thanked me and the AC-130 crew profusely. . . . I stood up to stretch and regain my bearings in the “cockpit” of my aircraft. . . . Then I remembered that Trish had asked me to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home.
You see, I wasn’t in Iraq. Not yet. I was at Nellis Air Force Base, in Nevada, 7,500 miles from Baghdad.
From ten thousand feet in the sky I peered down upon . . . a technical college taken over by insurgents in the heart of Baghdad. It was after midnight. Streets were unlighted or poorly lighted. . . . Using an infrared sensor to register heat signatures, I picked out machine-gun and rocket-propelled-grenade fire coming from top windows of the college, a blink-blink-blink of muzzle flashes that pinned down a squad of U.S. Army mechanized infantry on the wrong side of the Euphrates River.
I carried a pair of Hellfire missiles beneath my wings, but my task was not to engage the enemy directly. Instead, I was to coordinate with and mark targets for an AC-130U “Spooky.”. . . As soon as the gunship reported on-site in the night below me, my sensor operator and I began to “sparkle” targets with our infrared marking laser, lighting them up for IR sensors to detect. The Spooky opened fire with the sound of skies ripping apart on doomsday. . . .
Hostile incoming suppressed, the army ground commander came on the radio and thanked me and the AC-130 crew profusely. . . . I stood up to stretch and regain my bearings in the “cockpit” of my aircraft. . . . Then I remembered that Trish had asked me to pick up a gallon of milk on the way home.
You see, I wasn’t in Iraq. Not yet. I was at Nellis Air Force Base, in Nevada, 7,500 miles from Baghdad.
