First Armed Predator Pilot Speaks Out
For Scott Swanson, flying a Predator in combat didn't feel at all like a game. For the first time, Swanson...
For Scott Swanson, flying a Predator in combat didn't feel at all like a game.
For the first time, Swanson has written about his experience as the first Predator operator to fire a missile in combat. He describes the experience of taking the Predator into a live mission as tense and emotional, exemplified for Swanson by a 2000 mission over Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan, where it is believed his Predator observed Osama Bin Laden. When a MiG-21 launched from a nearby airfield, Swans recalls how he and his sensor operator twisted in their seats, much like manned fighter pilots, to evade the MiG.