Author tells Club's Legion Post inside story of Predator drone's development

A little known agency in the Department of Defense, acting like the high-tech gadget shop in a James Bond movie, helped rush into operation the armed Predator drone that has revolutionized warfare, author Richard Whittle told a packed meeting of National Press Club's American Legion Post 20 and guests March 23.

Whittle, a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said the story of the Predator's development "is as odd as the aircraft itself." He tells the story in detail in his latest book, "Predator, The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution."

Although a Baghdad-born engineering whiz had produced a Predator-like prototype in his garage in California, it was the wars in Bosnia and Afghanistan that forced the U.S. military to take drones seriously, Whittle said. And the Big Safari Program within the Pentagon, he said, cut red tape to quickly turn the drone into a weapon that can strike a target via a "pilot" on the ground halfway around the world.

Whittle had covered the Pentagon for nearly 30 years "and never heard of Big Safari" until doing five years of research for his book.

Whittle, who worked for the Dallas Morning News and Congressional Quarterly before writing books, said he does not see remotely piloted vehicles replacing piloted aircraft anytime soon because of the relatively small payloads that drones can carry.

While terrorists are able to deploy small, primitive drones, neither they nor anyone else will be able to match the U.S. in deploying sophisticated drones anytime soon, Whittle said. He noted that the U.S. military now trains more drone pilots than it does pilots for manned aircraft.

Asked about the morality of using drones to strike targets, Whittle said he sees no problem with their use if warfare is deemed necessary. He said he is "less comfortable with targeted killing" of individuals because of the limited congressional oversight such operations now receive.

Speaker portions of National Press Club Post 20 meetings are open to all Club members. The post's next meeting will be on May 18 with Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Douglas Frantz as guest speaker.