Global Hawk The Story and Shadow of America Controversial Drone Ricky Thomas 9780692457467 Books
Download As PDF : Global Hawk The Story and Shadow of America Controversial Drone Ricky Thomas 9780692457467 Books
Despite the high level of media attention, most military unmanned aircraft remain shrouded in secrecy, including one of the largest called Global Hawk. Rick Thomas, a retired senior-level Air Force officer and Global Hawk pilot introduces the largest operational unmanned reconnaissance aircraft in the world and reveals first-hand accounts of how this amazing unmanned aircraft came to be. He also takes you inside the Global Hawk control station to experience what it’s like to be a Global Hawk pilot, especially when things go wrong. Rick shares incredible stories about the close calls, the combat sorties, and the crashes that occur throughout the Global Hawk’s history. Rick also takes you inside the Pentagon to closed door meetings where decisions are made on spending billions, yes BILLIONS of dollars on the Global Hawk. You will discover not everyone is pleased with the Global Hawk. Factions within Congress as well as a mysterious group called the “U-2 mafia” conspire to shut it down. Despite their ongoing efforts, Global Hawk experiences ironic timing and streaks of luck. In its darkest moments world events transpire which propel it into the national limelight. Contributors include over thirty high level leaders and managers including former Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General John Jumper, former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Larry Lynn, former President and CEO of Ryan Aircraft Company, Bob Mitchell, former Air Force intelligence chief, Lieutenant General David Deptula and many others. The stories of these movers and shakers are what make the high flying, long range Global Hawk aircraft a compelling story and a rich and rewarding reading experience. It will compel you to think the Global Hawk is almost human!
Global Hawk The Story and Shadow of America Controversial Drone Ricky Thomas 9780692457467 Books
I was an engineer on Global Hawk for 18 years. In later years I worked closely with the business development group under Ed Walby as we responded to customer wishes for new capabilities. Working with Ed was one of the highlights of my Global Hawk experience. Mr. Thomas has a different perspective on the evolution of the project than we did as engineers just trying to get it working well. It was not until the mid-2000s that the strength of the U-2 /manned aircraft mafia became apparent when the Global Hawk program was almost mothballed because of operational cost. That was a difficult issue to overcome, but we finally did convince the Air Force the U-2 derived numbers used a lot of creative accounting the plane is still flying daily missions world wide.I would have liked a bit more perspective on the engineering issues such as the trade-offs in performance made necessary by the sole requirement DARPA stated: unit flyaway cost. The design ended up with some avionics decisions that resulted in some redesigns and limitations that remain to this day.
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Global Hawk The Story and Shadow of America Controversial Drone Ricky Thomas 9780692457467 Books Reviews
Very good history of the Global Hawk!
Excellent inside story of the all the politics and issues related to showcasing the capabilities of the USA's premier high altitude unmanned ISR system and the slow acceptance of the US Air Force over the U-2. The only issue with the book is its backcover. The Global Hawk was temporarily cancelled. Today it is very much alive, including its variants.
I Love the story line, because I was a part of the story line. I knew a few of the PEOPLE involved in the Book. And worked on certain parys.
It will be in my Library for a very long time.
Great historical account of the Global Hawk and the competition for funding between ISR platforms. In depth interviews with those who were there keeps the facts straight and true.
Looking forward to Rick's next book !
I too support this incredible plane and love that Rick wrote c this book!!!
I have recommended it to everyone I work with OR thier wives who were thrilled with a great gift to give thier hubbies who have worked so hard supporting this mebor of America's defense!!!
This is a complete description of the Global Hawk project from its beginnings as an ACTD through the Block 30 procurements. It might be difficult going for those unfamiliar with the program and the terminology, although there is a complete glossary included. The writing is interesting and accurate, but often marred by typos and incomplete sentences. Nonetheless, a worthwhile read. Most interestin is the tension between the Global Hawk proponents and the planned replacement of the U-2 by the Global Hawk.
Hollywood tells stories about flight test...the situation is dire, a formidable foe is at the gates, and all conventional weapons have failed. In this hour of most desperate need, the powers-that-be turn to the test team and call on them to take the New Experimental Aircraft into battle. Our Heroes zoom forth to do Heroic Single Combat, with appropriate special effects and a stirring orchestral score, saving the day and winning the undying affections of extremely attractive members of the opposite sex.
It's all hokum...until you actually DO it. And this is the story of a program that did. While the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper got the publicity, it was the RQ-4 Global Hawk that provided the "God's Eye View" of the battlespace in Afghanistan and Iraq. And this book tells the story of the epic behind-the-scenes struggle to pull that off. A fight that pitted the aircrews, engineers, and maintainers against both an incredibly complex system and an Air Force that was frequently hostile to unmanned aviation and uncomprehending of just what an RQ-4 brought to the table.
While this book covers the development of the early Global Hawk Advanced Competitive Technology Demonstration (ACTD) aircraft, and briefly touches on the Navy RQ-4 and MQ-4 aircraft, it's mostly about the deployment effort that rushed ACTD aircraft meant for flight testing into battle, replaced them with the Block 10, and ultimately with the RQ-4B family.
(This is a Good Thing, as I'm working on a memoir of the ACTD and Navy programs...which are epics unto themselves.)
Highly recommended.
I was an engineer on Global Hawk for 18 years. In later years I worked closely with the business development group under Ed Walby as we responded to customer wishes for new capabilities. Working with Ed was one of the highlights of my Global Hawk experience. Mr. Thomas has a different perspective on the evolution of the project than we did as engineers just trying to get it working well. It was not until the mid-2000s that the strength of the U-2 /manned aircraft mafia became apparent when the Global Hawk program was almost mothballed because of operational cost. That was a difficult issue to overcome, but we finally did convince the Air Force the U-2 derived numbers used a lot of creative accounting the plane is still flying daily missions world wide.
I would have liked a bit more perspective on the engineering issues such as the trade-offs in performance made necessary by the sole requirement DARPA stated unit flyaway cost. The design ended up with some avionics decisions that resulted in some redesigns and limitations that remain to this day.
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