Stealth

The Secret Contest to Invent Invisible Aircraft

By: Peter Westwick

Narrated by: David de Vries

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

On a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen US aircraft appeared in the skies over Baghdad. To the Iraqi air defenses, the planes seemed to come from nowhere. Each aircraft was more than 60 feet in length and with a wingspan of 40 feet, yet its radar footprint was the size of a ball bearing. Here was the first extensive combat application of Stealth technology. And it was devastating.

Radar has been in use since the 1930s and was essential to the Allies in World War II, when American investment in radar exceeded that in the Manhattan Project. The atom bomb ended the war, conventional wisdom has it, but radar won it. That experience also raised a question: could a plane be developed that was invisible to radar? That question, and the seemingly impossible feat of physics and engineering behind it, took on increasing urgency during the Cold War.

Combining nail-biting narrative, incisive explanation of the science and technology involved, and indelible portraits of unforgettable characters, kimmerses readers in the story of an innovation with revolutionary implications for modern warfare.

©2019 Peter Westwick (P)2021 Tantor

Eye Opener

This book gives the grand overview. It was effective and enlightening. A worth while investment in time.

the real story of stealth

great book that really tells the story of stealth technology and its development and how it came to be and the people who made it possible

Great read

Not a novel but great details, love the narrator, Scott is always on it with the voices

Excellent Review

So much detail into these amazing aircraft and the incredible efforts to bring them to life. I wished that it included more historical information.

I really enjoyed this narrative

All the details that made the stealth planes. The National and International setting was cogently and fairly presented. Keep up the great work.

This book added significantly to my understanding of the contributions of defense contractors other than Lockheed Skunkworks

I’ve enjoyed several books on the aerospace industry and US military innovation and investment during the Cold War and this one gave me a larger perspective on the contributions of Lockheed, Northrop, Grumman, Raytheon, Martin, etc.

I’m so proud of the Americans who were involved in this era and wish I could have coffee with these gentlemen and hear stories about their experiences firsthand but Peter Westwick has made me happy by deepening my appreciation for my American ingenuity and the individuals at the leading edge for half a century. Thank you David de Vries and Peter Westwick for this more complete treatment of Stealth technology. -Bobby L

Readable and accessible

Well written and read - a good window on the technical and political aspects of military and industrial R and D. Probably most interesting to those who like to immerse themselves in things technical. In particular, the qualitative explanations of the science and technology are very well done and accessible to the interested non-engineer.

Good Overview of the original development

I read this book after "Kelly: More than my share" and "Skunk Works: A personal memoir of my years at Lockheed Martin." I loved the first two books and insight they provided into the stealth program and general works at Skunk Works. I selected this book to get a deeper dive into stealth, how it was developed, by who, what aircraft, ex... I am a little disappointed in the lack of detail in some areas. 90% of the book covers pre-1985 aeroplanes. it would have been interesting if the author spent a little more time in the recent years or if the author would have talked about missiles as well. I understand that this data is classified, however, I believe there could have been more non-classified information shared. Other than that, the author does an amazing job researching stealth technology and showing the development over the course of several decades. if someone was interested in learning the history or stealth, I would recommend this book. This book does not dive into how stealth technology works, but this is probably outside of the scope of this book.

Boring

This book is a combination of the early work history of some people who worked on the project and corporate inter-office memos and other documents that don't have much to do with the planes or stealth technology. There are no AH-HA moments. No personality stands out. The best part of this book was a cursory description of the computer programs used to evaluate the geometry of the stealth designs.