Predator, the first drone armed to kill, helped the U.S. military capture video of Osama Bin Laden, as well as spy and kill terrorists. (Lt. Col. Leslie Pratt/US Air Force via EPA)

To some, it was an act of mercy that proved the ultimate worth of the Predator, the first drone armed to kill.

What had begun as a rescue operation on March 4, 2002, turned dire for a team of Army Rangers on top of Roberts Ridge in the mountains of Afghanistan. They had landed to rescue a Navy Seal downed in the midst of Operation Anaconda, a campaign to kill or capture the Al Qaeda forces that had taken refuge there.

'Predator,' by Richard Whittle, will be published Sept. 16.

The Predator, operated by a team half a world away at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., had already strategically landed a Hellfire missile in a bunker from where the enemy had fired on the Rangers as the day-long battle raged.

But it was at night as the trapped Rangers, one dead and several wounded, huddled in hiding that the Predator provided another form of relief. An infrared light was beamed from the drone throughout the dark hours to reassure the desperate men they were not forgotten. The same light guided two Chinooks to a safe landing and the Rangers' rescue.

That an unmanned plane not only could effectively fight in a major operation but dwell in the air long enough to provide aid throughout the night was further proof that the time had finally come for the Predator to graduate from experimental status and take its place as a mighty weapon in the U.S. arsenal.

"Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution" by Richard Whittle tells a dramatic story while impressively detailing the long and often-threatened creation of the armed drone that would revolutionize modern warfare.

Improbably, the drone that would evolve into the Predator began as an ambitious project in a garage in Hacienda Heights, Calif., in the late '70s. It was there Abe Karem, the former chief designer of the Israeli Air Force, developed an unmanned aircraft, the Gnat 750, which could carry close to its own weight in fuel. It had been believed that physics made that impossible.

In time, bankruptcy forced Karem to sell his company to General Atomics, owned by the billionaire brothers Neal and Linden Blue. Neal Blue's particular dream was to build an unmanned "attack plane." The argument was that no drone could bear the weight of missiles — but eventually, GA, contracting with the Air Force, would prove otherwise.

'The Tall Man in White' video made Richard Clarke, the counter-terrorism adviser to the NSA, feel vindicated. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Still, the military wasn't interested in drone technology. Until suddenly, in the early '90s, President Bill Clinton, intent on breaking the Serbian blockade in Bosnia, demanded better intelligence. So it was that the first Predator, grown from the Gnat 750 technology, went to war.

Senior military leaders throughout Europe became addicted to watching the astonishing drone video broadcast direct from the battlefield. Crews started joking about "Predator crack." But even though the Predator's reconnaissance potential had been demonstrated, it was still considered a wild card program, not likely to endure.

Abe Karem, the former chief designer of the Israeli Air Force, developed a unmanned aircraft, the Gnat 750, that could carry close to its own weight in fuel. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

At least that was the case until it found a home with a small Air Force unit, the 645th Aeronautical Systems Group, better known as Big Safari. Its purpose, much like Q branch in the James Bond movies, was to devise and quickly field exotic gear.

In the wily hands of Big Safari, the Predator grew up, its imaging and sensory capabilities becoming impressively sophisticated. In truth, Big Safari invented some of the technology so quickly it could seem almost jerry-rigged until it proved out. Still, the Predator remained a backdoor project with no priority until suddenly, "eyes" were needed on Afghanistan.

It could be said that Osama Bin Laden was the making of the Predator.

After Al Qaeda bombed U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya in 1998, retaliatory strikes in the Sudan and Afghanistan proved fruitless and politically humiliating to the U.S. The hunt was on for Bin Laden — and the need for reliable intelligence had become acute.

A stunning presentation of the drone's capabilities staged for doubting representatives at a desert outpost near Las Vegas in July of 2000, finally convinced the CIA and National Security Agency of its possibilities. The Predator was sent "to play hide-and-seek in Afghanistan with one of the world's most wanted men."

George Tenet was concerned there would be a public backlash if the CIA assassinated a terrorist in Afghanistan. (J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP)

The first success came Sept. 27, 2000. As a Predator circled over Bin Laden's compound, Tarnak Farms near Kandahar, a tall man in white robes emerged as a group rushed to meet him. It was Bin Laden. "The Tall Man in White" video made Richard Clarke, the counter-terrorism adviser to the NSA, feel vindicated. He had been championing the drone as a game-changer.

As a Predator circled over Bin Laden’s compound, Tarnak Farms near Kandahar, a tall man in white robes emerged as a group rushed to meet him. It was Bin Laden. (Getty Images)

"This sort of intelligence was something we'd only seen in Hollywood movies," Clarke later wrote.

Still, surveillance did nothing to prevent the Oct. 12 attack on the warship Cole, anchored at the port of Aden, Yemen. But such a success made "the next logical step" more plausible. The Air Force was prepared to weaponize the Predator, providing a "see 'em/shoot 'em" option.

The lightweight smart bomb Hellfire was chosen, though it was a serious technological challenge to effect the coupling. And even when the newly fashioned Hellfire Predator seemed ready to deploy, other issues surfaced.

Executive Order 12333 banned the intelligence community from taking part in an assassination. A ruling decreeing that drone strikes against Al Qaeda leaders were an act of self-defense seemed to open a door, but chief George Tenet (inset below) was concerned there would be a public backlash if the CIA assassinated a terrorist in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the military resisted being charged with pulling the trigger since in a situation short of war, doing so would be a covert action.

**FILE**Undated file photo of an Air Force RQ-1 Predator. Opening up a visible new front in the war on terror, U.S. forces launched a pinpoint missile strike at a car in Yemen Monday Nov. 4, 2002, killing Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, a top al-Qaida operative. Al-Harethi's car was struck by a Hellfire air-to-ground missile. The CIA launches Hellfires from pilotless Predator aircraft, U.S officials said. The unmanned Predator aircraft is living up to its name as it evolves from an unarmed spy plane toa remote-controlled killer firing anti-tank missiles.(AP Photo/ Department of Defense HO) (Department of Defense/AP)

**FILE**Undated file photo of an Air Force RQ-1 Predator. Opening up a visible new front in the war on terror, U.S. forces launched a pinpoint missile strike at a car in Yemen Monday Nov. 4, 2002, killing Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, a top al-Qaida operative. Al-Harethi's car was struck by a Hellfire air-to-ground missile. The CIA launches Hellfires from pilotless Predator aircraft, U.S officials said. The unmanned Predator aircraft is living up to its name as it evolves from an unarmed spy plane toa remote-controlled killer firing anti-tank missiles.(AP Photo/ Department of Defense HO)

It seemed that the Hellfire Predator, a weapon with the unique capabilities of hovering over its target for more than 24 hours and striking from close range with incredible precision, was grounded. Big Safari's commitment to making the HP operational from Langley by Sept. 25, 2001, was suddenly pointless.

Predator drone flies during training at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, April 16, 2009 (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Within days, three Hellfire Predators had been transported to an isolated airfield in Uzbekistan near the Afghan border.

The Predator team's assigned objective was to find and kill Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders. The drone revolution was finally underway. On Nov. 12, the Predator demonstrated its formidable dual capabilities when it tracked a convoy of three vehicles to a house in Kabul's diplomatic section.

Predator reconnaissance brought two F-15Es to bomb the villa. It was a direct hit, but six or seven men stumbled out afterward. The Predator followed them into a small house a short distance away before launching a Hellfire. No one escaped that.

It is believed that Mohammed Atef, Bin Laden's third in command, was successfully eliminated that day. While absolute confirmation was impossible to come by, in the White House President George W. Bush struck an X through the photo of Atef on his terrorist scorecard.

The Predator had indisputably demonstrated the lethal prowess of unmanned aircraft. (US AIR FORCE )

The Predator had indisputably demonstrated the lethal prowess of unmanned aircraft.

The controversy over the morality and legality of drone attacks came later. And continues. But while President Obama has acknowledged the "profound questions — as to who is targeted, and why," he has also clearly stated that the use of drone strikes falls under America's "legitimate claim of self-defense."

"Predator," by Richard Whittle, will be published Sept. 16.

Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News

Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News