With the Soviets developing increasingly capable integrated air defenses, America needed a strategy to offset the enemy’s strengths. We found it in an innovative organization bringing together leading technology and the Nation’s best thinkers to make history. While the book was written 20 years ago, the challenges they faced are timeless. Potential adversaries are improving their capabilities, and our an offset. Kelly Johnson and Ben Rich were able to solve the greatest military aviation problems of their time, and the lessons of persistence, creativity, and responsible failure continue to serve us well today.
About The Author
Benjamin Robert "Ben" Rich (June 18, 1925 – January 5, 1995) was the second Director of Lockheed's Skunk Works from 1975 to 1991, succeeding its founder, Kelly Johnson. Regarded as the "father of stealth," Rich was responsible for leading the development of the F-117, the first production stealth aircraft. He also worked on the F-104, U-2, A-12, SR-71, and F-22, among others. He is the author of Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed.
About The Author
Leo Janos (1933 - 2008), a longtime correspondent for Time magazine and a freelance non-fiction writer, sent his career into the stratosphere in 1985 with "Yeager: An Autobiography." Co-written with the World War II ace fighter pilot who in 1947 became the first person to break the sound barrier, the book sold more than a million copies in hardcover.
