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The hunter killers : the extraordinary story of the first Wild Weasels, the band of maverick aviators who flew the most dangerous missions of the Vietnam War / Dan Hampton.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2015]Copyright date: ©2015Edition: First editionDescription: xi, 432 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 006237513X
  • 9780062375131
Other title:
  • Extraordinary story of the first Wild Weasels, the band of maverick aviators who flew the most dangerous missions of the Vietnam War
Subject(s):
Contents:
Spring high -- Hitchhiker in a hailstorm -- Wild Weasel -- Charlie and SAM -- Hunter killers -- Make mud, not war -- A full day's work -- Year of the Monkey -- Warts on a frog -- Winds of change -- Death from above -- Appendix A. Wild Weasel combat losses, Vietnam-- 1965-1973 -- Appendix B. Aircraft loss tables -- Appendix C. The Bamboo Dragon : background notes on Ho Chi Minh, France, and the origins of the Vietnam War.
Summary: At the height of the Cold War, America's most elite aviators bravely volunteered for a covert program aimed at eliminating an impossible new threat. Half never returned. From bestselling author Dan Hampton comes one of the most extraordinary untold stories of aviation history. Vietnam, 1965: USAF Phantom jets were being blown from the sky by a mysterious weapon--a Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM), launched by Russian "advisors" to North Vietnam. The deadliest anti-aircraft threat in history was turning the tables of Cold War air superiority in favor of Soviet technology. Stunned and desperate, the Pentagon ordered a top-secret program called Wild Weasel I to counter the SAM problem--fast. So it came to be that a small group of maverick fighter pilots and Electronic Warfare Officers volunteered to fly behind enemy lines and into the teeth of the threat. To most it seemed a suicide mission--but they beat the door down to join. Those who survived the 50 percent casualty rate would revolutionize warfare forever. Based on unprecedented firsthand interviews with Wild Weasel veterans and previously unseen personal papers and declassified documents from both sides of the conflict, as well as Dan Hampton's own experience as a highly decorated F-16 Wild Weasel pilot, this is a cockpit-level chronicle of the remarkable band of aviators who faced the advanced Soviet missile technology head-on.--From publisher description.
List(s) this item appears in: 2023 National Aviation Week Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 959.7043 H232 Checked out 07/05/2024 33111008199347
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

At the height of the Cold War, America's most elite aviators bravely volunteered for a covert program aimed at eliminating an impossible new threat. Half never returned. All became legends. From New York Times bestselling author Dan Hampton comes one of the most extraordinary untold stories of aviation history.

Vietnam, 1965: On July 24 a USAF F-4 Phantom jet was suddenly blown from the sky by a mysterious and lethal weapon--a Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM), launched by Russian "advisors" to North Vietnam. Three days later, six F-105 Thunderchiefs were brought down trying to avenge the Phantom. More tragic losses followed, establishing the enemy's SAMs as the deadliest anti-aircraft threat in history and dramatically turning the tables of Cold War air superiority in favor of Soviet technology.

Stunned and desperately searching for answers, the Pentagon ordered a top secret program called Wild Weasel I to counter the SAM problem--fast. So it came to be that a small group of maverick fighter pilots and Electronic Warfare Officers volunteered to fly behind enemy lines and into the teeth of the threat. To most it seemed a suicide mission--but they beat the door down to join. Those who survived the 50 percent casualty rate would revolutionize warfare forever.

"You gotta be sh*#@ing me!" This immortal phrase was uttered by Captain Jack Donovan when the Wild Weasel concept was first explained to him. "You want me to fly in the back of a little tiny fighter aircraft with a crazy fighter pilot who thinks he's invincible, home in on a SAM site in North Vietnam, and shoot it before it shoots me?"

Based on unprecedented firsthand interviews with Wild Weasel veterans and previously unseen personal papers and declassified documents from both sides of the conflict, as well as Dan Hampton's own experience as a highly decorated F-16 Wild Weasel pilot, The Hunter Killers is a gripping, cockpit-level chronicle of the first-generation Weasels, the remarkable band of aviators who faced head-on the advanced Soviet missile technology that was decimating fellow American pilots over the skies of Vietnam.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 391-396) and index.

Spring high -- Hitchhiker in a hailstorm -- Wild Weasel -- Charlie and SAM -- Hunter killers -- Make mud, not war -- A full day's work -- Year of the Monkey -- Warts on a frog -- Winds of change -- Death from above -- Appendix A. Wild Weasel combat losses, Vietnam-- 1965-1973 -- Appendix B. Aircraft loss tables -- Appendix C. The Bamboo Dragon : background notes on Ho Chi Minh, France, and the origins of the Vietnam War.

At the height of the Cold War, America's most elite aviators bravely volunteered for a covert program aimed at eliminating an impossible new threat. Half never returned. From bestselling author Dan Hampton comes one of the most extraordinary untold stories of aviation history. Vietnam, 1965: USAF Phantom jets were being blown from the sky by a mysterious weapon--a Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM), launched by Russian "advisors" to North Vietnam. The deadliest anti-aircraft threat in history was turning the tables of Cold War air superiority in favor of Soviet technology. Stunned and desperate, the Pentagon ordered a top-secret program called Wild Weasel I to counter the SAM problem--fast. So it came to be that a small group of maverick fighter pilots and Electronic Warfare Officers volunteered to fly behind enemy lines and into the teeth of the threat. To most it seemed a suicide mission--but they beat the door down to join. Those who survived the 50 percent casualty rate would revolutionize warfare forever. Based on unprecedented firsthand interviews with Wild Weasel veterans and previously unseen personal papers and declassified documents from both sides of the conflict, as well as Dan Hampton's own experience as a highly decorated F-16 Wild Weasel pilot, this is a cockpit-level chronicle of the remarkable band of aviators who faced the advanced Soviet missile technology head-on.--From publisher description.

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