Mitchell Gant
Encyclopedia
Mitchell Gant is a fictional character in a series of books written by Craig Thomas
. His first (and best known thanks to a successful film adaptation
) appearance occurs in the 1977 novel Firefox
as a US Air Force
major
that steals a Russian MiG-31 Firefox
fighter aircraft
prototype.
, becoming a fighter pilot
.
While flying combat during the Vietnam War
, Gant's F-4 Phantom II
was shot down by a surface-to-air missile
. Gant ejected and was immediately captured, apparently by guerrillas. The arrival of allied aircraft saves Gant, but also traumatizes him - napalm
dropped by one of the aircraft incinerates a young girl travelling with the enemy soldiers. The experience left him with post-traumatic stress disorder
, causing him to have frequent flashbacks. He suffers from a recurring nightmare about himself being a Vietnamese and burning in napalm dropped by US aircraft.
After the war, he leaves the military and works for some time in a menial job in a Los Angeles pizza restaurant, which he describes as the only time that he left the military as he was trying to run from his problems. Eventually he is recruited by the CIA for their Firefox operation, supposedly because of his knowledge of Russian, his combat experience in Vietnam and his knowledge of flying Russian aircraft; he is trained to be fluent in Russian and to fly a replica MiG-25 as well as a simulator of the Firefox.
, an Anglo-American intelligence scheme inserts Gant into the Soviet Union in order for him to steal one of 2 prototypes of a revolutionary fighter plane, the MiG-31, NATO code name "Firefox" (not to be confused with the real MiG-31, a development of the MiG-25). After crossing the Soviet Union from Moscow to the airbase where the Firefox is being developed, with the help of various MI6 agents and several false identities; dissident scientists involved in the project create a diversion allowing Gant to steal the plane. He then deals with several obstacles and, after dispatching the second prototype in a dogfight, has apparently succeeded in his theft.
In Firefox Down
, the immediate sequel to Firefox, Gant realizes that he has not survived his dogfight with the second MiG-31 unscathed. Leaking fuel from a punctured fuel tank, and forced to burn more when confronted by 2 MiG-25's, Gant is forced to land the MiG-31 on a lake in Finland
very close to the Soviet border. The Soviets capture Gant, but not before the plane sinks into the frozen Finnish lake. The Soviets use brainwashing to determine whether the MiG-31 crashed or landed. Gant escapes from the KGB
and with the help of a Russian double agent named Anna Akhmerovna, the Soviet Union as well. Gant and Anna are reluctantly assisted by Dmitri Priabin, a KGB officer who is also Anna's lover. Anna is shot as Gant crosses the border. Gant meets up with a team of western intelligence experts that have recovered the MiG-31 from under the Finnish ice, but have not been able to move it to safety. Gant successfully flies the plane home, even though immersion under water has damaged the plane's radar-invisibility.
Gant's next role was in the novel Winter Hawk
. Originally, Gant's mission was to smuggle scientist and spy Filip Kedrov out of the Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan
, as Kedrov had information on a Soviet spaceborne directed-energy weapon
. However, Gant and Kedrov were both captured by the KGB
. Dmitri Priabin, the ranking head of the KGB, still holds a vendetta against Gant due to the death of Anna Akhmerovna. When he learns, however, of a plot by the Soviet military to take control of the Soviet space weapon and use it against an American Space Shuttle
, Priabin is forced to ally himself with Gant in order to warn his civilian superiors in Moscow
. With the Soviet Army imposing a security crackdown on Baikonur, even upon the KGB, Gant and Priabin escape Baikonur in a KGB helicopter. Shot down by Soviet helicopters, Gant is forced to escape again with evidence of the Soviet weapon - first on foot, then in a stolen An-2 cropduster, then again on foot when the An-2 is shot down near the Turkish
border. Eluding a manhunt by Soviet Paratroopers, Gant is extracted by US Army helicopters.
Gant's final appearance comes in the novel A Different War, in which he is a member of the National Transportation Safety Board
. In this novel, he investigates the crashes of two examples of a fictional airliner
, and discovers that they were both sabotage
d by a former CIA
agent working for a rival aircraft manufacturer. In the epilogue, it is mentioned that Gant was awarded a Medal of Honor
following the events of the novel. It is also revealed that he was an F-117 Nighthawk
pilot and instructor during the Persian Gulf War
.
Craig Thomas (author)
David Craig Owen Thomas was a Welsh author of thrillers, most notably the Mitchell Gant series.-Background:...
. His first (and best known thanks to a successful film adaptation
Firefox (film)
Firefox is a 1982 American action film produced, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. It is based upon the 1977 novel of the same name written by Craig Thomas....
) appearance occurs in the 1977 novel Firefox
Firefox (novel)
Firefox is a thriller novel written by Craig Thomas and published in 1977. The Cold War plot involves an attempt by the CIA and MI5 to steal a highly advanced experimental Soviet fighter aircraft. The chief protagonist is fighter pilot turned spy Mitchell Gant...
as a US Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
that steals a Russian MiG-31 Firefox
Fictional military aircraft
Fictional military aircraft are imagined aircraft which are used in fiction, in its various media, but do not exist in the real world. These aircraft may be conjectured variants of real-world aircraft or they may be completely fabricated by the author....
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
prototype.
Character biography
Gant grew up in Clarksville, a small town in rural America and found himself drawn to flight when as a child after seeing a small airplane land at a local gas station in need of fuel. With few happy memories of Clarksville, Gant found his way into the United States Air ForceUnited States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, becoming a fighter pilot
Fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
.
While flying combat during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, Gant's F-4 Phantom II
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
was shot down by a surface-to-air missile
Surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
. Gant ejected and was immediately captured, apparently by guerrillas. The arrival of allied aircraft saves Gant, but also traumatizes him - napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
dropped by one of the aircraft incinerates a young girl travelling with the enemy soldiers. The experience left him with post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
, causing him to have frequent flashbacks. He suffers from a recurring nightmare about himself being a Vietnamese and burning in napalm dropped by US aircraft.
After the war, he leaves the military and works for some time in a menial job in a Los Angeles pizza restaurant, which he describes as the only time that he left the military as he was trying to run from his problems. Eventually he is recruited by the CIA for their Firefox operation, supposedly because of his knowledge of Russian, his combat experience in Vietnam and his knowledge of flying Russian aircraft; he is trained to be fluent in Russian and to fly a replica MiG-25 as well as a simulator of the Firefox.
Appearances
In FirefoxFirefox (novel)
Firefox is a thriller novel written by Craig Thomas and published in 1977. The Cold War plot involves an attempt by the CIA and MI5 to steal a highly advanced experimental Soviet fighter aircraft. The chief protagonist is fighter pilot turned spy Mitchell Gant...
, an Anglo-American intelligence scheme inserts Gant into the Soviet Union in order for him to steal one of 2 prototypes of a revolutionary fighter plane, the MiG-31, NATO code name "Firefox" (not to be confused with the real MiG-31, a development of the MiG-25). After crossing the Soviet Union from Moscow to the airbase where the Firefox is being developed, with the help of various MI6 agents and several false identities; dissident scientists involved in the project create a diversion allowing Gant to steal the plane. He then deals with several obstacles and, after dispatching the second prototype in a dogfight, has apparently succeeded in his theft.
In Firefox Down
Firefox Down
Firefox Down is a 1983 novel by author Craig Thomas. It is a sequel to his novel Firefox. Craig Thomas dedicated the first edition of the novel to actor/director/producer Clint Eastwood, who starred as Mitchell Gant in the film adaptation of the first novel, stating, "For Clint Eastwood — pilot of...
, the immediate sequel to Firefox, Gant realizes that he has not survived his dogfight with the second MiG-31 unscathed. Leaking fuel from a punctured fuel tank, and forced to burn more when confronted by 2 MiG-25's, Gant is forced to land the MiG-31 on a lake in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
very close to the Soviet border. The Soviets capture Gant, but not before the plane sinks into the frozen Finnish lake. The Soviets use brainwashing to determine whether the MiG-31 crashed or landed. Gant escapes from the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
and with the help of a Russian double agent named Anna Akhmerovna, the Soviet Union as well. Gant and Anna are reluctantly assisted by Dmitri Priabin, a KGB officer who is also Anna's lover. Anna is shot as Gant crosses the border. Gant meets up with a team of western intelligence experts that have recovered the MiG-31 from under the Finnish ice, but have not been able to move it to safety. Gant successfully flies the plane home, even though immersion under water has damaged the plane's radar-invisibility.
Gant's next role was in the novel Winter Hawk
Winter Hawk
Winter Hawk is a 1987 thriller novel written by Craig Thomas. It is the novel set within a larger continuum linking many of Thomas’s other books, including a number of characters last seen in Firefox Down, itself a sequel to Thomas’s Firefox...
. Originally, Gant's mission was to smuggle scientist and spy Filip Kedrov out of the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, as Kedrov had information on a Soviet spaceborne directed-energy weapon
Directed-energy weapon
A directed-energy weapon emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects may be non-lethal or lethal...
. However, Gant and Kedrov were both captured by the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. Dmitri Priabin, the ranking head of the KGB, still holds a vendetta against Gant due to the death of Anna Akhmerovna. When he learns, however, of a plot by the Soviet military to take control of the Soviet space weapon and use it against an American Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
, Priabin is forced to ally himself with Gant in order to warn his civilian superiors in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. With the Soviet Army imposing a security crackdown on Baikonur, even upon the KGB, Gant and Priabin escape Baikonur in a KGB helicopter. Shot down by Soviet helicopters, Gant is forced to escape again with evidence of the Soviet weapon - first on foot, then in a stolen An-2 cropduster, then again on foot when the An-2 is shot down near the Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
border. Eluding a manhunt by Soviet Paratroopers, Gant is extracted by US Army helicopters.
Gant's final appearance comes in the novel A Different War, in which he is a member of the National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
. In this novel, he investigates the crashes of two examples of a fictional airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
, and discovers that they were both sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
d by a former CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent working for a rival aircraft manufacturer. In the epilogue, it is mentioned that Gant was awarded a Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
following the events of the novel. It is also revealed that he was an F-117 Nighthawk
F-117 Nighthawk
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force . The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved initial operating capability status in October 1983...
pilot and instructor during the Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
.