Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

‘Ghost Fleet’: Now sailing your way

The ferocious pollen assault on D.C. this week has had me reeling for the last couple of days, so I used the enforced downtime to read Ghost Fleet, a neat new thriller by P.W. “Wired for War” Singer and August Cole.

Mothball_fleet_Suisun_Bay_aerial
Mothball_fleet_Suisun_Bay_aerial

Screen Shot 2015-04-08 at 10.13.31 AM

Screen Shot 2015-04-08 at 10.13.31 AM

The ferocious pollen assault on D.C. this week has had me reeling for the last couple of days, so I used the enforced downtime to read Ghost Fleet, a neat new thriller by P.W. “Wired for War” Singer and August Cole. If you’ve been looking for a smart update to Tom Clancy, this is for you.

Even in my addled state, I enjoyed it quite a lot. There are some neat tricks done by projecting the possible future need for low tech weapons. The authors also manage to fire the chief of the Air Combat Command over the Air Force’s feet-dragging on fielding autonomous drones. There is also some subversive commentary on the nature of counterinsurgency — and what an American insurgency would look like.

Fans of history will enjoy the historical parallels that are sprinkled through the book. It comes out in June but you can order now of course.

Amazon

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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