Drone Warrior

Drone Warrior
Author: Brett Velicovich
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2017-06-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0062693921

“A must read for anyone who wants to understand the new American way of war.” — General Michael V. Hayden, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency A former special operations member takes us inside America’s covert drone war in this headline-making, never-before-told account for fans of Zero Dark Thirty and Lone Survivor, told by a Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal writer and filled with eye-opening and sure to be controversial details. For nearly a decade Brett Velicovich was at the center of America’s new warfare: using unmanned aerial vehicles—drones—to take down the world’s deadliest terrorists across the globe. One of an elite handful in the entire military with the authority to select targets and issue death orders, he worked in concert with the full human and technological network of American intelligence—assets, analysts, spies, informants—and the military’s elite operatives, to stalk, capture, and eliminate high value targets in al-Qaeda and ISIS. In this remarkable book, co-written with journalist Christopher S. Stewart, Velicovich offers unprecedented perspective on the remarkably complex nature of drone operations and the rigorous and wrenching decisions behind them. In intimate gripping detail, he shares insider, action-packed stories of the most coordinated, advanced, and secret missions that neutralized terrorists, preserved the lives of US and international warriors across the globe, and saved countless innocents in the hottest conflict zones today. Drone Warrior also chronicles the US military’s evolution in the past decade and the technology driving it. Velicovich considers the future it foretells, and speaks candidly on the physical and psychological toll it exacts, including the impact on his own life. He reminds us that while these machines can kill, they can also be used productively to improve and preserve life, including protecting endangered species, work he is engaged in today. Joining warfare classics such as American Sniper, Lone Survivor, and No Easy Day,Drone Warrior is the definitive account of our nation’s capacity and capability for war in the modern age.

Drone Warrior

Drone Warrior
Author: Jack Watson
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Group
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2014-06-13
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1601389779

"Drone Warrior is an all-too-real terror scenario cloaked in the guise of a novel. This tale has it all-a gripping story, characters you'll love or hate, high-tech gee-whizzery rendered in exquisite detail. Take a seat and hang on. You're in for a hell of a ride." Robert Gandt, award-winning author of "The Presdient's Pilot" and thirteen other military and aviation classics. Intelligence sources have uncovered a terrorist threat against the United States. Military downsizing has increased reliance on robotic warriors as force multipliers replacing the Man-In-The-Sand approach to war fighting. An epic battle fought exclusively by drones is just beyond the horizon. A countdown to attack has started with the United States FPCON level jumping abruptly to Charlie. The CIA, NSA, and NRO are scouring the earth for weapons of mass destruction. First term President John Parker insist on a business as usual appearance to the public while USSOC Admiral James Buzz Robbins has ordered Spec Ops Warriors to guard government officials and deploys high flying unmanned aerial vehicles to search and destroy the terrorist enemy. In the background Drone prodigy James Barlow unknowingly provides a solution to a frightening scenario. Sit down strap in and hang on for a literary roller coaster ride that could bring the United States to its knees.

Drone

Drone
Author: Mike Maden
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0698141091

With “an unforgettable cast of characters” (W.E.B. Griffin) and nonstop action, Mike Maden’s Drone kicks off an explosive thriller series exploring the hard realities of drone warfare. Troy Pearce is the CEO of Pearce Systems, a private security firm specializing in drone technologies. A former CIA SOG operative, Pearce used his intelligence and combat skills to hunt down America’s enemies—until he opted out, having seen too many friends sacrificed for political expediency. Now Pearce and his team choose which battles they will take on. Pearce is done with the United States government for good, until a pair of drug cartel hit men assault a group of American students on American soil. New U.S. president Margaret Myers secretly authorizes Pearce Systems to locate and destroy the killers wherever they are. Now Pearce and his team are in a showdown with the hidden powers behind the El Paso attack—unleashing a host of unexpected repercussions.

Blue Warrior

Blue Warrior
Author: Mike Maden
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2014-10-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0698141105

Mike Maden exploded onto the military action scene with his blistering Drone. Now he returns with another electrifying novel featuring hero Troy Pearce. Rare earth minerals have been found in the remote Saharan desert—and a rush of powerful nations converge to mine them. But the territory belongs to the Tuaregs—fierce warriors who are battling the Malian government for their independence. With a vested interest in the rare elements, the Chinese offer to help the Malian government fight the rebels. Brilliant as the plan is in concept, the execution backfires and the fighting renews in intensity as Al Qaeda joins the fray. In the dead center of the chaos are Troy Pearce's closest friend and a mysterious woman from his past. Deploying his team and the newest drones to rescue his friends and save the rebellion, Troy discovers that he may need more that technology to survive the battle and root out the real puppet masters behind the Tuareg genocide....

Gender and Drone Warfare

Gender and Drone Warfare
Author: Lindsay Clark
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2019-06-20
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0429017421

This book investigates how drone warfare is deeply gendered and how this can be explored through the methodological framework of ‘Haunting’. Utilising original interview data from British Reaper drone crews, the book analyses the way killing by drones complicates traditional understandings of masculinity and femininity in warfare. As their role does not include physical risk, drone crews have been critiqued for failing to meet the masculine requirements necessary to be considered ‘warriors’ and have been derided for feminising war. However, this book argues that drone warfare, and the experiences of the crews, exceeds the traditional masculine/feminine binary and suggests a new approach to explore this issue. The framework of Haunting presented here draws on the insights of Jacques Derrida, Avery Gordon, and others to highlight four key themes – complex personhood, in/(hyper)visibility, disturbed temporality and power – as frames through which the intersection of gender and drone warfare can be examined. This book argues that Haunting provides a framework for both revealing and destabilising gendered binaries of use for feminist security studies and International Relations scholars, as well as shedding light on British drone warfare. This book will be of interest to students of gender studies, sociology, war studies, and critical security studies.

Armed Drones and the Ethics of War

Armed Drones and the Ethics of War
Author: Christian Enemark
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2013-09-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136261206

This book assesses the ethical implications of using armed unmanned aerial vehicles (‘hunter-killer drones’) in contemporary conflicts. The American way of war is trending away from the heroic and towards the post-heroic, driven by a political preference for air-powered management of strategic risks and the reduction of physical risk to US personnel. The recent use of drones in the War on Terror has demonstrated the power of this technology to transcend time and space, but there has been relatively little debate in the United States and elsewhere over the embrace of what might be regarded as politically desirable and yet morally worrisome: risk-free killing. Arguably, the absence of a relationship of mutual risk between putative combatants poses a fundamental challenge to the status of war as something morally distinguishable from other forms of violence, and it also undermines the professional virtue of the warrior as a courageous risk-taker. This book considers the use of armed drones in the light of ethical principles that are intended to guard against unjust increases in the incidence and lethality of armed conflict. The evidence and arguments presented indicate that, in some respects, the use of armed drones is to be welcomed as an ethically superior mode of warfare. Over time, however, their continued and increased use is likely to generate more challenges than solutions, and perhaps do more harm than good. This book will be of much interest to students of the ethics of war, airpower, counter-terrorism, strategic studies and security studies in general.

On Killing Remotely

On Killing Remotely
Author: Lieutenant Colonel Wayne Phelps
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2021-06-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0316628271

A “can’t-miss for anyone interested in current military affairs,” On Killing Remotely reveals and explores the costs—to individual soldiers and to society—of the way we wage war today (Kirkus Reviews, starred). Throughout history society has determined specific rules of engagement between adversaries in armed conflict. With advances in technology, from armor to in the Middle Ages to nerve gas in World War I to weapons of mass destruction in our own time, the rules have constantly evolved. Today, when killing the enemy can seem palpably risk-free and tantamount to playing a violent video game, what constitutes warfare? What is the effect of remote combat on individual soldiers? And what are the unforeseen repercussions that could affect us all? Lt Col Wayne Phelps, former commander of a Remotely Piloted Aircraft unit, addresses these questions and many others as he tells the story of the men and women of today’s “chair force.” Exploring the ethics of remote military engagement, the misconceptions about PTSD among RPA operators, and the specter of military weaponry controlled by robots, his book is an urgent and compelling reminder that it should always be difficult to kill another human being lest we risk losing what makes us human.

Drone Threat

Drone Threat
Author: Mike Maden
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2016-10-11
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0698190726

Troy Pearce and his team of drone experts are called to action when ISIS launches a series of attacks on U.S. soil. On the eve of President Lane’s historic Asian Security Summit, a hobby-store quadcopter lands on the White House lawn carrying a package and an ominous threat: Fly the enclosed black flag of ISIS over the White House by noon today or suffer the consequences. The threat further promises that every day the flag isn’t flown a new attack will be launched, each deadlier than the first. President Lane refuses to comply with the outrageous demand, but the first drone attacks, sending a shudder through the U.S. economy. With few options available and even fewer clues, President Lane unleashes Troy Pearce and his Drone Command team to find and stop the untraceable source of the destabilizing attacks. But the terror mastermind proves more elusive and vindictive than any opponent Pearce has faced before . . . and if Pearce fails, the nation will suffer an unimaginable catastrophe on its soil or be forced into war.

Predator

Predator
Author: Richard Whittle
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2014-09-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0805099646

A history of the Predator drone, discussing how it transformed the American military, reshaped modern warfare, and triggered a revolution in aviation.

Hunter Killer

Hunter Killer
Author: T. Mark Mccurley
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2015-10-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0698161467

The first-ever inside look at the US military’s secretive Remotely Piloted Aircraft program—equal parts techno-thriller, historical account, and war memoir 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. 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. In Hunter Killer, Air Force Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley provides an unprecedented look at the aviators and aircraft that forever changed modern warfare. This is the first account by an RPA pilot, told from his unique-in-history vantage point supporting and executing Tier One counterterrorism missions. 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. 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. Until now.