Predator
Page 37
More than half: Newcome, Unmanned Aviation, p. 86.
seen as more promising: Thomas P. Ehrhard, “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the United States Armed Services: A Comparative Study of Weapon System Innovation,” Ph.D. dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C., June 2000, pp. 120–25.
less flies in it than swims: Tina Baier, “Flattern über dem Himalaya,” Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 18, 2009, p. 20.
At weekly meetings: Arbel interview.
“We were DARPA’s conduit”: Author interview with Ira Kuhn.
Robert Fossum figured: Author interview with Robert Fossum, director, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, 1977–81.
lunch each day: Author interview with Hertenstein protégé Tim Just, August 12, 2013.
thinking to himself: Author interview with Jack Hertenstein, September 5, 2012.
The pyrotechnics used: Chronology provided by Karem Aircraft Inc.
2: THE BLUES
the concept had been his: Sources for the story of the Yale Daily News Asian Expedition include author interviews with Neal and Linden Blue in 2012 and 2013 and the articles that Neal Blue and his companions filed to the New York Times about their car trip from Paris to Calcutta, specifically: “U.S. Students Find Contrasts on Balkan Tour,” July 4, 1955, p. 3; “U.S. Students See a Bustling Beirut,” July 25, 1955, p. 6; “Risks Rule Trek from Damascus,” August 3, 1955, p. 7; “Yale Party Visits Two More Lands,” August 18, 1955, p. 25; “4 Yale Men Greeted by Afghans with Free Tea and Free Shave,” September 28, 1955, p. 6.
“He always had a plan”: Author interview with Norman Augustine, August 7, 2009.
posed for a news photographer: “Yale Quartet Set for Global Goodwill Tour,” June 3, 1955, International News Photos photograph and caption, accessed April 9, 2013, at http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U1284389INP/yale-students-studying-station-wagon.
cars below moving faster: Author interview with Linden Blue, September 26, 2012.
“Presented with a fait accompli”: “Denver Brothers, Students at Yale, to Tour Latin America in Small Plane,” Boston Globe, May 21, 1956, p. 36.
included a number of adventures: “Flight of the ‘Blue Bird,’” Life, April 8, 1957, pp. 82–93.
Tacho liked wealth himself: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/554161/Anastasio-Somoza, accessed April 11, 2013.
“Why don’t you guys”: The Anastasio Somoza García comment was remembered by Neal Blue.
“Well, happy to have you here”: The Anastasio Somoza Debayle comment was remembered by Linden Blue.
cacao and banana plantation: Di Freeze, “Linden Blue: From Disease-Resistant Bananas to UAVs,” Airport Journals, October 2005, accessed Aug. 16, 2011, at http://www.airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0510013.
also had a standing invitation: Author interview with Neal Blue, April 1, 2013.
his parents were working feverishly: Ibid.
both looking gaunt: R. Hart Phillips, “Cuba Rejects U.S. Protest,” New York Times, April 6, 1961, p. 2; and UPI, “Castro Releases 2 U.S. Prisoners,” New York Times, April 5, 1961, p. 19.
When he protested: E-mail to the author from Linden Blue.
nearly all 1,511 of them: “C.I.A. Bares Its Bungling in Report on Bay of Pigs Invasion,” New York Times, February 22, 1998; also http://www.foia.cia.gov/collection/bay-pigs-release, accessed May 6, 2013.
they left the plantation: Author interview with Linden Blue; and Freeze, “Linden Blue.”
a mere six million dollars: Richard B. Collins, “Telluride’s Tale of Eminent Domain, Home Rule, and Retroactivity,” Denver University Law Review 86, no. 4 (2009): 1433, at http://www.law.du.edu/documents/denver-university-law-review/v86-4/Collins-final.pdf.
hard-nosed tactics: Barney Gimbel, “The Predator,” Fortune, October 31, 2008, at http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/28/magazines/fortune/predator_gimbel.fortune/index.htm.
president would allow: Statement by Deputy Press Secretary Speakes on the Soviet Attack on a Korean Civilian Airliner, September 16, 1983.
fleet of attack helicopters: Stephen Kinzer, “Nicaraguan Says Soviet Ship Carried One or Two Military Copters,” New York Times, November 9, 1984, p. A10.
“You could launch them”: Gimbel, “The Predator.”
report in the Wall Street Journal: “Chevron Considering Sale of Certain Retail and Refining Assets,” Wall Street Journal, July 18, 1985.
When Neal heard about GA: Author interview with Neal Blue, April 1, 2013.
Founded in 1955: General Atomics Aeronautical Media Information, “Neal Blue, Chairman & CEO, General Atomics,” undated; and Freeze, “Linden Blue.”
revenue of $170 million: Ken Wells, “Chevron Plans to Sell Wells of Low Volume—Streamlining Move Includes Buying Other Producing and Marketing Facilities,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 1985.
The company’s businesses included: Matt Potter, “General Atomics: Color It Blue,” San Diego Weekly Reader, July 12, 2001.
Neal and Linden Blue were buying: “Chevron Agrees to Sell GA Technologies Unit to 2 Denver Investors,” Wall Street Journal, August 14, 1986.
Cassidy thought: Author interviews with Rear Adm. (Ret.) Thomas J. Cassidy Jr., USN, April 2013.
“always buy straw hats”: Gimbel, “The Predator.”
Neal Blue wanted to call: Author interview with Neal Blue, April 1, 2013.
3: A STRAW HAT IN WINTER
described the ambitious event: Robert R. Ropelewski and Bruce A. Smith, “Soviet Presence, RPV Developments Mark Inaugural San Diego Air Show,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 23, 1988, pp. 29–30.
The show’s opening day: “Tom Blair” column, San Diego Union-Tribune, May 12, 1988, p. B1.
spectators could circle out: Leonard Bernstein, “S.D. Cancels 1990 Air Show at Brown Field after Audit,” Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1989.
another booth displaying a drone: Author interviews with Neal Blue, Linden Blue, Karsten Blue, Michael Melnick, and Abraham Karem.
“gigantic phallic symbol”: E-mail to the author from former Leading Systems Inc. employee Stephen Waide, May 2, 2013.
Lehman had seen the Mastiff: Author interviews with former Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr., March and April 2013.
Mastiff could stay airborne: The Mastiff’s capabilities are listed in Kenneth Munson, World Unmanned Aircraft (London: Jane’s Publishing Company Ltd., 1988), p. 60.
proving to be a turkey: Robert A. Moore, “Unmanned Air Vehicles: A Prospectus,” Aerospace America, February 1989, p. 26. See also “Aquila Remotely Piloted Vehicle, Recent Developments and Alternatives,” U.S. General Accounting Office, January 1986, GAO/NSIAD—86-4-41BR; and “Aquila Remotely Piloted Vehicle, Its Potential Battlefield Contribution Still in Doubt,” U.S. General Accounting Office, October 1987, GAO/NSIAD—88-19.
“people who should make us humble”: Abraham Karem interview, September 22, 2012.
four such systems had been built: Ibid.
told Aviation Week: John D. Morocco, “Navy Plans Operational Trials for Amber RPV in 1989,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, December 14, 1987, p. 25.
gave Aviation Week another rosy prognosis: “RPVs & Drones; Long-Term Observation and Radio Relay Missions Play Vital Navy Role,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 2, 1988, p. 70.
boondoggle known as Aquila: “Aquila Remotely Piloted Vehicle, Its Potential Battlefield Contribution Still in Doubt,” United States General Accounting Office, October 1987, GAO/NSIAD—88-19.
froze all spending on drones: Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1988, Senate Report 100–235, 100th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 250.
navigated to within: Steve La Rue, “S.D. Firm’s Unmanned Plane Tested,” San Diego Union, December 1, 1988, p. C1.
RPV master plan: Ronald D. Murphy, “AMBER for Long Endurance,” Aerospace America, February 1989, p. 32.
“could prove fatal”: Robert A. Moore, “Unmanned Air Vehicles: A Prospectus,” Aerospace America, Febru
ary 1989, p. 26.
one of three bidders: The other two bidders for the 1989 short-range UAV contract were McDonnell Douglas Corporation and a team consisting of TRW Inc. and Israel Aircraft Industries. The TRW-IAI team later won the right to produce a UAV called the Hunter.
commissioned to build: Brian Wanstall and Bill Sweetman, “Unmanned Aircraft Fit Tight Budgets,” Interavia Aerospace Review (April 1990): 315.
JPO also made it clear: Naval Air Systems Command contract solicitation N00019-89-R-0003, pp. 12–15.
seven had been built: Author interview with Leading Systems pilot Tim Just.
couldn’t pay an overdue phone bill: Leading Systems Inc. bankruptcy papers, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California, Case No. SA-90-07057-JB (Chapter Eleven).
wanted to help Abe: Author interviews with Ira Kuhn.
“You guys have been wanting”: The dialogue was remembered similarly by Ira Kuhn and Linden Blue.
the Blues paid $1,850,000: “Summary of Debts and Property,” dated October 22, 1990, Leading Systems Inc. bankruptcy papers.
4: PREDATOR REBORN
about to initiate an operation: Author interviews with R. James Woolsey, Abraham Karem, and Thomas Twetten.
got front-page coverage: Walter Pincus, “‘2 Little Guys’ with a Big Idea,” Washington Post, August 13, 1981, p. A1.
conduct surveillance for long periods: Author interview with R. James Woolsey, March 29, 2012.
meeting in his CIA headquarters office: Frank Strickland, “The Early Evolution of the Predator Drone” (extracts), Studies in Intelligence 57, no. 1 (March 2013): 106. (CIA officer Strickland’s article, while helpful in understanding the CIA’s Gnat 750 program, contains inaccuracies, especially in describing the history of the Amber, the distinctions between the Amber and the Gnat 750, and how General Atomics acquired the assets of Leading Systems Inc.)
exactly the concept: Ibid.
briefed him on the meeting: Author interview with Rear Admiral (Ret.) Michael Cramer, June 10, 2013.
“get us ground truth”: Ibid.
one single dumb-luck hit: R. W. Apple Jr., “WAR IN THE GULF: Scud Attack; Scud Missile Hits a U.S. Barracks, Killing 27,” New York Times, February 26, 1991.
to preclude objections about the cost: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/strike_930117.htm, accessed June 12, 2013; Patrick McLain, “Settling the Score with Saddam: Resolution 1441 and Parallel Justifications for the Use of Force against Iraq,” Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law 13 (2003): 233–90.
visiting the San Diego offices: 1993 work diaries of Capt. Allan Rutherford, loaned to the author.
he noted only: Ibid.
the military was woefully behind: Author interview with John M. Deutch, June 7, 2013.
began talking regularly: Ibid.
“Tell these fellows”: Thomas Twetten’s recollection of what he and John Deutch said.
eyes glaze over: Author interview with Thomas Twetten.
hoped to stimulate their competitive: Author interview with Deutch.
might want to talk about: Author interviews with Deutch and Neal Blue.
What went through his mind: Author interview with Neal Blue.
got a second phone: Author interview with Capt. (Ret.) Steve Jayjock, USN.
Jayjock had been assigned: Author interviews with Jayjock and Admiral (Ret.) William Studeman, deputy CIA director, 1993.
two-page memo: Under Secretary of Defense Memorandum for Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition, Subject: Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Program, July 12, 1993.
seething letter: Copy of the Kohler letter in the author’s possession.
replied by letter: Copy of the Wagner letter in the author’s possession.
required the CIA team to relay: David A. Fulghum, “CIA to Fly Missions from Inside Croatia,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, July 11, 1994, p. 20.
Tier I was a cover: David A. Fulghum, “USAF Stresses UAVs for Recon,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, September 27, 1993, p. 44.
the magazine reported that: “Gnat Goes Splat,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, November 1, 1993, p. 23.
some in Congress were talking: David A. Fulghum, “Tier 2 UAV Aborts First Test Flight,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, July 11, 1994, p. 22.
motor used in ultralight sport aircraft: The manufacturer’s plant in Austria also built snowmobile engines, giving rise to an oft-repeated myth that the Predator was powered by an “Austrian snowmobile engine.” The Rotax 912 and other engines used in the Predator have all been specifically designed for use in aircraft.
fourteen seconds: Author interview with Frank Pace, November 3, 2010.
5: PREDATOR’S PROGRESS
Stratakes called up: Jay Stratakes, “Medium Altitude Endurance UAV Program Briefing,” January 11, 1995, copy in the author’s possession.
astounded by what they were watching: Author interviews with Allan Rutherford.
intelligence analysts dismissed color video: Author interviews with “Werner.”
set a new UAV endurance record: “Tier II UAV Sets Endurance Record,” Aerospace Daily, January 24, 1995, p. 109.
boiling point in the Balkans: Lon O. Nordeen, Air Warfare in the Missile Age (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002), pp. 241–46.
O’Grady parachuted safely: Department of Defense news briefing, Adm. William Owens, vice chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, June 9, 1995.
first combat deployment: Details of the arrival come from an author interview with former Mibli Predator pilot and retired Army Chief Warrant Officer Greg Foscue.
all the Predator could do: Author interview with Col. Scott Sanborn, commander of the Predator detachment at Gjader, Albania, July–October 1995.
“We’re at risk”: The dialogue is as remembered by both Greg Gordy and Scott Sanborn.
Tanjug reported: “Army Shoots Down Two Croatian Aircraft,” Belgrade Tanjug in English, August 12, 1995, Foreign Broadcast Information Service transcribed text.
Washington Post reported: Bradley Graham, “Pentagon Loses Two Unmanned Spy Planes over Bosnia,” Washington Post, August 15, 1995, p. A10.
cost only $1.5 million apiece: On October 18, 1995, the deputy director of the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office sent a memo to the Pentagon’s Budget and Finance Directorate authorizing Rutherford’s office to pay three million dollars to replace the two Predators lost in Bosnia. A copy of the memo is in the author’s possession.
“You proved the inherent”: “Bravo Zulu for a job well done. Admiral Smith sends,” unclassified message dated November 20, 1995, copy in the author’s possession.
At the National Defense University: “On Fogleman’s Watch,” Aerospace Daily 174, no. 55 (June 19, 1995): 435.
A month later: Stacey Evers, “Big Changes in Store for DOD Intelligence Collection,” Aerospace Daily 175, no. 13 (July 21, 1995): 102.
Misty Fast FAC: Rick Newman and Don Shepperd, Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail (New York: Presidio Press, 2006). The figures on Misty Fast FAC losses come from Bury Us Upside Down.
Most were rescued: Author interview with Gen. (Ret.) Ronald Fogleman.
last regular Air Force RF-4C flight: Stacey Evers, “Big Changes in Store for DOD Intelligence Collection,” Aerospace Daily, July 21, 1995.
just voted to reactivate: “SR-71 Blackbird Back in Business,” U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command news release, January 24, 1997.
Joint Chiefs committee recommended: Joint Requirements Oversight Council, “Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, JROCM 151–95, Subject: Assignment of Service Lead for Operation of the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV),” December 16, 1995, copy in the author’s possession.
Perry agreed to give: William J. Perry, secretary of defense, “Memorandum for Secretaries of the Military Departments, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Under Secretaries of Defense, Subject:
Assignment of Service Lead for Operation of the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV),” April 8, 1996, copy in the author’s possession.
held in a huge conference room: Dr. James M. George, “Predator Comes to Air Combat Command (1994–2005),” Office of ACC History, Headquarters, Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, August 2006.
pilots openly showed their contempt: Author interviews with General (Ret.) Richard E. Hawley, Rutherford, and Capt. (Ret.) Steve Jayjock, USN.
the drone’s engine failed: Author interview with Lt. Col. Eric Johnson, June 29, 2009.
“message to the field”: “Griffith: Predator Not Responsive to Tactical Commanders in Bosnia,” Inside the Army, February 24, 1997, p. 10.
then provide top cover: Author interview with Fogleman.
forty locations in all: Peter H. Wiedemann, “On the Use of the Predator (MAE-UAV) System in Bosnia,” paper presented at the Unmanned Vehicle Conference, Paris, France, June 13, 1997.
system was created: The new video dissemination system, developed specifically to get Predator video to commanders, is described in Maj. Mark Biwer, “The Joint Broadcast Service Supporting Bosnia: Value to the Warrior and Lessons Learned,” Air Command and Staff College research paper, March 1997.
didn’t fly its Predators in wet weather: Author interviews with Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jon Box and Lt. Col. Eric Johnson.
the rest were tests and check flights: Jon L. S. Box, Pilot Logbook 1996–99, loaned to the author by Box.
Clark wrote in a report: Col. James G. Clark, “Memorandum for AF/CVA, CV, CSAF, April 28, 1997, Subject: Predator,” copy in the author’s possession.
“After my report was done”: James “Snake” Clark, “Predator: A Personal History,” U.S. Air Force, Air Force Historical Association, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, 2006.
6: WILD PREDATOR
Seventeen crew members: “Shoot-Down of a USAF C-130 by Soviet Aircraft on 2 September 1958,” declassified National Security Agency report, accessed at http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/declass/c130_shootdown.shtml; and Bill Grimes, The History of Big Safari (Bloomington, Ind.: Archway, 2014), pp. 121–25.