Professional Affiliation

Independent author

Expert Bio

Richard Whittle, author of Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution (Henry Holt and Company, September 2014), and The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey (Simon & Schuster, 2010), is a journalist and speaker focused on transformational military and civilian aviation technology. A Research Associate and former Verville Fellow at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Whittle’s articles have appeared in American Heritage, Air & Space Smithsonian, the Vertical Flight Society’s Vertiflite, and other journals, on the web at The Atlantic Monthly and BreakingDefense.com, and in numerous newspapers. He has been an interview guest on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” C-SPAN, NPR, NBC News, Bloomberg, and other many broadcast outlets. From 1984–2006, Whittle covered the Pentagon and other Washington beats for The Dallas Morning News. He previously covered defense and foreign policy for Congressional Quarterly and was an editor at National Public Radio.

Expertise

• History
• Science and Technology
• Security and Defense

• Transformational aviation technology and history, military and civilian

Wilson Center Project

Electricity in the Air

Project Summary

Whittle is focused on transformational aviation technology and aviation history, with a special interest in drones and the electric aircraft revolution.

Major Publications

• Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution (Henry Holt and Company, September 2014)
• The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey (Simon & Schuster, 2010)
• Swiss Startup Sees Artificial Intelligence As Key To UAM, Vertiflite, Sept-Oct 2020

Previous Terms

Senior Scholar, Sep 1, 2011 - Jun 30, 2013, "The Advent and Public Policy Implications of Weaponized Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's)"