Hunter Killer is a gripping and extraordinary first-hand account of Predator drones and the war on terror - equal parts techno-thriller, historical account and war memoir. Mark McCurley has helped cement the status of drones as one of the military's deadliest weapons, with the lowest accident rate in the Air Force. Hunter Killer puts readers into this secretive world: hunting terrorists from the sky, deploying cutting-edge technology to neutralize threats to national security but also, sitting in Los Angeles traffic surrounded by civilians on the commute home, the mind still fixed on blown-up images of a target's charred remains in the dust.įrom starting out as one of the first volunteers, to becoming the commander of a squadron and writing the training manual for the entire Predator program, Air Force pilot and former intelligence operator Lt. We know too much, and when it is time to shoot, we can zoom in until the target fills the screen.ĭrones, or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), are a mysterious and headline-making tool in the military's counterterrorism arsenal. Hunter Killer is the counterpoint to the stories from the battlefront told in books like No Easy Day and American Sniper: While special operators such as SEALs and Delta Force have received a lot of attention in recent years, no book has ever told the story of the unmanned air war. Only a handful of people know what it’s like to hunt terrorists from the sky, watching through the electronic eye of aircraft that can stay aloft for a day at a time, waiting to deploy their cutting-edge technology to neutralize threats to America’s national security. militarys secret Remotely Piloted Aircraft program discusses how drones work and their potential. This is the first account by an RPA pilot, told from his unique-in-history vantage point supporting and executing Tier One counterterrorism missions. Mark McCurley provides an unprecedented look at the aviators and aircraft that forever changed modern warfare. Their story has been pieced together by technology reporters, major newspapers, and on-the-ground accounts from the Middle East, but it has never been fully told by an insider. Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), commonly referred to by the media as drones, are a mysterious and headline-making tool in the military’s counterterrorism arsenal. The first-ever inside look at the US military’s secretive Remotely Piloted Aircraft program-equal parts techno-thriller, historical account, and war memoir

Hunter Killer by T. Mark McCurley