Firefox (novel)
First edition cover
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| Author | Craig Thomas |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Techno-thriller novel |
| Publisher |
Michael Joseph (UK) & Holt, Rinehart and Winston (USA) |
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Publication date
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8 August 1977 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | (first edition, hardback) & (UK hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 2966300 |
| 823/.9/14 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.T4543 Fi3 PR6070.H56 |
| Preceded by | Rat Trap |
| Followed by | Wolfsbane |
Firefox is a thriller novel written by Craig Thomas and published in 1977. The Cold War plot involves an attempt by the CIA and MI6 to steal a highly advanced experimental Soviet fighter aircraft. The chief protagonist is fighter pilot turned spy Mitchell Gant. The book was subject to a 1982 film adaptation produced and directed by Clint Eastwood who also played the role of Gant in the film.
During the cold war, British and American intelligence services learn of the fictional MiG-31 aircraft developed by the USSR during the Cold War. The plane (given the NATO code name "Firefox") embodies a number of technology advances - including stealth technology, hypersonic speeds above Mach 5 and a thought-guided weapons system – dramatically surpassing those of the west.
Faced with an aircraft which will give the Soviet Union the ability to completely dominate the skies, the CIA and MI6 launch a joint mission to steal one of the two Firefox prototype aircraft. Their plan involves using veteran usaf fighter pilot Mitchell Gant, who travels to the Soviet Union under an assumed identity. On paper, Gant is ideally trained to steal Firefox, being fluent in Russian and having already flown captured Soviet planes. Overlooked by his superiors is Gant’s wartime experiences in Vietnam, including his capture by Viet Cong after being shot down, an ordeal exacerbated when the enemy guerrillas are wiped out almost immediately by napalm from an American air strike.
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Wikipedia