How the CIA Launched the Predator Program with Alec Bierbauer

About this episode

Alec Bierbauer discusses the launch of the CIA's Predator drone program and its implications in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

In this episode of Intel at the Edge, host Chip Usher sits down with retired CIA officer Alec Bierbauer, a core founder of the team that launched the agency’s revolutionary Predator drone program. Bierbauer recounts the high-stakes history of the hunt for Osama bin Laden before 9/11, revealing how a small team bypassed traditional bureaucracy to put "U.S. eyes on target" in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan. The conversation explores the technical and ethical evolution of unmanned systems, from the groundbreaking "Man in White" video captured at Turnak Farm to the rapid weaponization of the platform with Hellfire missiles.

People in this episode

Host: Chip Usher

Guest: Alec Bierbauer

Topics covered

• CIA operations
• drone technology
• military history
• unmanned systems
• counterterrorism
• bureaucracy in government

Keywords

• Predator program
• CIA
• Alec Bierbauer
• drone warfare
• Osama bin Laden
• military technology
• unmanned aerial vehicles
• Hellfire missiles
• bureaucracy
• counterterrorism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIA

Products: Predator drone, Hellfire missiles

Books & works: Man in White

Places: Afghanistan, Turnak Farm

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