Hellfire

He launched the weapon that changed a war.

May 2006. Ed Macy arrives in Afghanistan along with the Apache AH Mk 1 on its first operational tour. It's an unfamiliar combat zone with a limited role for the Apache and Ed's time is spent escorting Chinooks. But one month later, during Operation Mutay, with 3 Para pinned down in Helmand, the arguments about the Apache's potential are thrown out and Ed deploys the first ever Hellfire missile in combat.

That squeeze of the trigger changed the war for the British and the Taliban alike. The £4.2bn Apache programme was dramatically redirected to fighting the enemy head-on and turned Ed and his squadron into one of the British Army's greatest assets.

Ed recounts the intense months that followed Mutay: the steep learning curve, the new missions, the evolving enemy and the changing Rules of Engagement. He also sheds light on his early career as a young paratrooper, his operational baptism as a pilot and how both shaped his ability to fly, fight and survive during that fateful first Afghanistan tour against a cunning and ruthless enemy.

It was here, in the dusty wastes of Helmand that Ed, his colleagues and the Apache found themselves on trial for their lives and for the reputation of a machine on which the British government had staked a fortune. The crucible of fire that awaited them in Helmand would cement the fate of man and machine forever.

Reviews

Praise for ‘Apache’:

‘Puts you right in the cockpit with your finger on the trigger. A truly awesome read; and a climax that Hollywood couldn’t invent…’ Andy McNab

'Macy is the real deal. Nobody could write that powerfully about combat, or emotionally about the men fighting with him, unless he has been at the gunship's controls. A fantastic, totally exhilarating rollercoaster read. Forget his Hellfire missiles, the book itself is enough to blow you away' Sergeant Major Dan Mills, author of number one bestseller Sniper One

'An honest account of exceptional bravery' Ross Kemp

‘Macy … does for the Apache helicopter’s gunships what Dan Mills did for the infantry in ‘Sniper One’. He puts readers in the cockpit of an aircraft that requires great skill and attention to keep in the air’ Publishers Weekly

‘’Apache’ is at its heart a ground-busting infantry tale told from an entirely new perspective. By the time these gutsy Uglies land in an occupied Taliban fort to join the ground fight, there is no doubt that attack helicopter pilots are flying grunts. What happens next is extraordinary’ Owen West, author of ‘Sharkman Six’

‘A truly amazing portrayal of the technical, the emotional, and the courageous. Macy puts the reader in the cockpit of our most lethal attack platform’ Dick Couch, author of ‘The Sheriff of Ramadi’ and ‘Chosen Soldier’

About the author

Ed Macy left the British Army in January 2008, after twenty-three years’ service. He had amassed a total of 3,930 helicopter flying hours, 645 of them inside an Apache. Ed was awarded the Military Cross for his courage during the Jugroom Fort rescue in Helmand Province, Afghanistan – one of the first ever in Army Air Corps’ history.