Origins of Aegis

Thomas Wildenberg is an award-winning scholar with special interests in aviators, naval aviation, and technological innovation in the military. He is the author of numerous books on a variety of naval topics as well as biographies of Joseph Mason Reeves, Billy Mitchell, and Charles Stark Draper.

The AEGIS weapons system - including its SPY series of radars and ever-evolving combat system and missiles - represents a clear distinction between capability of the U.S. Navy and every other navy in the world, except for those fortunate enough to have it aboard their own ships. Thomas Wildenberg has produced a fascinating description of how two flag officers with very different backgrounds overcame extraordinary technical and bureaucratic challenges to bring this vital system to life.  For anyone who believes excellence is based in part on a deep understanding of the history of one’s profession, this volume should be required reading." - Adm. Sandy Winnefeld, USN (Ret.), former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and author of Sailing Upwind"The Origins of Aegis is the long overdue account of two of the U.S. Navy’s most courageous, resolute, and brilliant ordnance experts who stood in the service of their country against both the forces of evil and the forces of the status quo at great professional risk when the nation needed them most. Hopefully, this story will spark a renaissance in how ships and their combat systems are designed, constructed, and put to sea in this era of Great Power competition. Undoubtedly, it will inspire many to follow in their wake." - John Hammerer, Chair, Integrated Air and Missile Defense at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School"Aegis…shield of the Fleet! Historian Thomas Wildenberg takes a hard look at the early years of the Aegis Shipbuilding project to produce a long-range, guided, supersonic surface-to-air weapon, in response to the global emergence of a modernized anti-ship Soviet Navy. Particularly valuable is Wildenberg’s deep life-examination of two key Aegis “players,” Admiral Eli T. Reich And Rear Admiral Wayne E. Meyer, the “father” of Aegis (FOE). This book is an important contribution to understanding the technologies, systems, and people that shared the experience of producing anti-ship surface warfare systems at the height of the Cold war. Thirty years on, Aegis is the core of U.S. Navy Sea-Based ballistic missiles. Vice Admiral Reich and Rear Admiral Meyer were keystones for SUW warfighting in the 21st Century. Aegis…Don’t leave homeports without it!" - Scott C Truver, PhD, former Director of the Center for Security Strate­gies and Operations and author of Weapons that Wait"This is far more than a history of the origin of a radar system.  It is an insightful look at the U.S. Navy culturally "from the middle" using two fascinating naval officers--Wayne E. Meyer and Eli T. Reich.  It is also a gripping account of guided missile development in the U.S. Navy during the Cold War.  Wildenberg is one of our finest naval scholars." - John T. Kuehn, PhD, former FADM E.J. King Professor of Maritime History, U.S. Naval War College and author of Strategy in Crisis