The Hunter Killers LP: The Extraordinary Story of the First Wild Weasels, the Band of Maverick Aviators Who Flew the Most Dangerous Missions of the Vietnam War

At the height of the Cold War Americas 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 historyVietnam On July a USAF F- Phantom jet was suddenly blown from the sky by a mysterious and lethal weapona Soviet SA- surface-to-air missile SAM launched by Russian advisors to North Vietnam Three days later six F- Thunderchiefs were brought down trying to avenge the Phantom More tragic losses followed establishing the enemys SAMs as the deadliest anti-aircraft threat in history and dramatically turning the tables of Cold War air superiority in favor of Soviet technologyStunned and desperately searching for answers the Pentagon ordered a top secret program called Wild Weasel I to counter the SAM problemfast 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 missionbut they beat the door down to join Those who survived the percent casualty rate would revolutionize warfare foreverYou gotta be shing 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 hes invincible home in on a SAM site in North Vietnam and shoot it before it shoots meBased 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 Hamptons own experience as a highly decorated F- 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.