The AGM-114 Hellfire is an American missile developed for anti-armor use,[6] later developed for precision[7]drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets.[8] It was originally developed under the name "Heliborne laser, fire-and-forget missile", which led to the colloquial name "Hellfire" ultimately becoming the missile's formal name.[9] It has a multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike ability and can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms, including the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100-pound (45 kg) class air-to-ground precision weapon for the armed forces of the United States and many other countries. It has also been fielded on surface platforms in the surface-to-surface and surface-to-air roles.[10]
Description
Most variants are laser-guided, with one variant, the AGM-114L "Longbow Hellfire", being radar-guided.[11][12] Laser guidance can be provided either from the launcher, such as the nose-mounted opto-electronics of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, other airborne target designators or from ground-based observers,[13] the latter two options allowing the launcher to break line of sight with the target and seek cover.[14]
Cockpit video showing a Hellfire missile being fired at two people in Afghanistan (at 1:42)
The Hellfire II, developed in the early 1990s is a modular missile system with several variants, and entered service with the U.S. Army in 1996.[17] Hellfire II's semi-active laser variants—AGM-114K high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), AGM-114KII with external blast fragmentation sleeve, AGM-114M (blast fragmentation), and AGM-114N metal augmented charge (MAC)—achieve pinpoint accuracy by homing in on a reflected laser beam aimed at the target. The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaperunmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) carry the Hellfire II, but the most common platform is the helicopter gunship, such as the AH-64 Apache or AH-1 Cobra, which can carry up to 16 of them each. The AGM-114L, or Longbow Hellfire, is a fire-and-forget weapon: equipped with millimeter-wave (MMW) active radar homing, it requires no further guidance after launch—even being able to lock on to its target after launch[18]—and can hit its target without the launcher or other friendly unit being in line of sight of the target. It also works in adverse weather and battlefield obscurants, such as smoke and fog, which can mask the position of a target or prevent a designating laser from forming a detectable reflection. Each Hellfire weighs 104 pounds (47 kg), including the 20-pound (9 kg) warhead, and has a range of 4.4–6.8 miles (7.1–11 km) depending on trajectory.[19] The Hellfire has a Circular Error Probable (CEP) of less than 3 feet (0.91 m).[20]
The AGM-114R "Romeo" Hellfire II entered service in late 2012. It uses a semi-active laser homing guidance system and a K-charge multipurpose warhead[21][22] to engage targets that formerly needed multiple Hellfire variants. It will replace AGM-114K, M, N, and P variants in U.S. service.[23]
In October 2012, the U.S. ordered 24,000 Hellfire II missiles, for both the U.S. armed forces and foreign customers.[24]
A possible new JCM successor called the Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM) is under consideration. Due to budget reductions, JAGM development was separated into increments, with increment 1 focusing on adding a millimeter-wave radar to the Hellfire-R to give it a dual-mode seeker, enabling it to track moving targets in bad weather.[25][26]
M1A1 Abrams main battle tank destroyed by friendly fire in 1991 Gulf War; one Abrams is thought to have been accidentally set on fire by a Hellfire missile fired from an Apache helicopter.[27]
The AGM-114 has occasionally been used as an air-to-air missile. The first operational air-to-air kill with a Hellfire took place on 24 May 2001, after a civilian Cessna 152 aircraft entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon, with unknown intentions and refusing to answer or comply with ATC repeated warnings to turn back. An Israeli Air Force AH-64A Apache helicopter fired on the Cessna, resulting in its complete disintegration.[35][36] The second operational air-to-air kill with a Hellfire occurred on 10 February 2018, after an Iranian UAV entered Israeli airspace from Syria. An Israeli Air Force AH-64 launched a Hellfire missile at the UAV, successfully destroying it.[37][third-party source needed]
In January 2016 The Wall Street Journal reported that one training missile without a warhead was accidentally shipped to Cuba in 2014 after a training mission in Europe;[38] it was later returned.[39] A US official said that this was an inert "dummy" version of the Lockheed system stripped of its warhead, fuse, guidance equipment and motor, known as a "Captive Air Training Missile".[40][41]
AGM-114 Ground Launched Hellfire-Light (GLH-L) missile system on a modified HMMWV chassisIsraeli Air Force Squadron 190 AH-64A Peten Launched Hellfire missile, Gaza–Israel clashes (November 2018)
AGM-114N Hellfire (MAC)[47]Hellfire II missile exposed through a transparent casing, showing laser homing guidance system in front, copper cone shaped charge explosive in middle, propulsion in the rear
The M36 is an inert device used for training in the handling of the Hellfire. It includes an operational laser seeker.[50]
AGM-114R-9X
The Hellfire R-9X is a Hellfire variant with a kinetic warhead with pop-out blades instead of explosives, used against specific human targets. Its lethality is due to 100 lb (45 kg) of dense material with six blades flying at high speed, to crush and cut the targeted person[51]—the R-9X has also been referred to as the "Ninja Missile"[52] and "Flying Ginsu".[51] It is intended to reduce collateral damage when targeting specific people.[53] Deployed in secret in 2017, its existence has been public since 2019. This variant was used in the killing in 2017 of Abu Khayr al-Masri, a member of Al-Qaeda's leadership, and in 2019 of Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi, accused mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole bombing.[54][55] The weapon has also been used in Syria,[56] and in Afghanistan against a Taliban commander.[57][58] It was used twice in 2020 against senior al-Qaeda leaders in Syria; in September 2020 US officials estimated that it had been used in combat around six times.[59][60][61][62][63]
Hellfire missiles fired by a Reaper drone[64] were used on 31 July 2022 to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri,[7] the leader of Al-Qaeda, who had formerly been involved in planning the 9/11 and other attacks on US targets. It was reported that the missile hit him on a balcony, causing minimal collateral damage. Reports stress that avoiding other casualties was a priority for the mission, following drone attacks that killed several uninvolved people, attracting much criticism. It is widely thought that the Hellfires were the R-9X variant, but a United States Special Operations Command spokesman declined to comment, while confirming that the R9X was "in US Special Operations Command's munitions inventory".[65][66]
Images of the aftermath of a US attack on a member of Kata'ib Hezbollah (claimed to be Abu Baqir al-Saadi by Hezbollah affiliated reports) suggests an R-9X was used.[67] The nature and announcement of the attack has led Howard Altman to suggest the weapon system is made more widely available to US forces.[67] In December 2024 an R-9X appears to have been used near Idlib.[68]
The system has been tested for use on the Humvee and the Improved TOW Vehicle (ITV). Test shots have also been fired from a C-130 Hercules. Sweden and Norway use the Hellfire for coastal defense and have conducted tests with Hellfire launchers mounted on the Combat Boat 90 coastal assault boat.[77]
The US Navy evaluated the missile for use on the Freedom-class littoral combat ship and Independence-class littoral combat ship from 2014.[78] The missile was successfully fired from a LCS in early 2017.[79] This system is set to deploy by late 2019.[80]
The Longbow Hellfire initially equipped the Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (M-SHORAD) version of the Stryker to serve as a surface-to-air counter-drone missile,[10] but in 2024 the U.S. Army prohibited its use on the platform after discovering that prolonged placement of the missiles on a ground vehicle created wear and tear that lead to potential safety concerns.[82]
^Weapon Systems. Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development, and Acquisition. 1998. pp. 125, 215. ISBN978-0-16-049429-1. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
^Spring 2014 Industry Study(PDF), National Defence University, Fort McNair, Washington, DC, p. 10, archived(PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022, The component that ... propels the Hellfire is the Thiokol TX-657.
^Hallion, Richard P. (2018). "Chapter 4: Science, Technology and Air Warfare". In Olsen, John Andreas (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Air Power. Routledge. p. 52. ISBN978-1-315-20813-8.
^ abWeapon Systems. Department of the Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Research, Development, and Acquisition. 1998. p. 215. ISBN978-0-16-049429-1. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
^Kasinoff, Laura; Mazzetti, Mark; Cowell, Alan (30 September 2011). "U.S.-Born Qaeda Leader Killed in Yemen". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
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