Bladed Hellfire Missile Seen In Action For The First Time

U.S. Central Command has posted the archetypal video ever showing the secretive AGM-114R9X variant of the Hellfire rocket successful action. R9X is an exotic limb that features an array of pop-out sword-like blades alternatively than a accepted high-explosive warhead. It is utilized arsenic an highly debased collateral harm limb that tin people not conscionable a vehicle, but a circumstantial occupant wrong by slashing done the car astatine conscionable the close spot. TWZ was the archetypal to place this caller weapon’s unsocial effects backmost successful 2017. It has since go thing of a gruesome fascination successful the nationalist domain, getting nicknames similar the “Flying Ginsu” and “Ninja Bomb” owed to its precise unsocial capabilities.

The caption of the CENTCOM video reads:

CENTCOM Forces Kill the Senior Military Leader of Al-Qaeda Affiliate Hurras al-Din (HaD) successful Syria On Feb. 23, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a precision airstrike successful Northwest Syria, targeting and sidesplitting Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay, the elder subject person of the violent enactment Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate. The airstrike is portion of CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment, on with partners successful the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and behaviour attacks against civilians and subject unit from the U.S., our allies, and our partners passim the portion and beyond. “As we person said successful the past, we volition proceed to relentlessly prosecute these terrorists successful bid to support our homeland, and U.S., allied, and spouse unit successful the region,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command.

In the video, we spot infrared camera footage of the motortruck moving on the roadworthy erstwhile the limb impacts it causing a cruciform glow. No ample detonation oregon occurrence is seen, conscionable what look to beryllium sparks from the damaged conveyance slowing down. Then we get airborne colour TV camera footage of the conveyance with the R9X’s trademark punched-through spread successful its extortion implicit the driver’s position.

The conveyance and inheritance align with a targeted sidesplitting that was antecedently reported to person occurred connected February 23rd that, astatine the time, had each the trademarks of an R9X hit, with the accustomed fragments of the limb besides seen successful photos from the aftermath.

The AGM-114R9X was developed successful secret and has been utilized progressively implicit the past 8 years, including successful precise high-profile operations, without authoritative acknowledgement of its existence. It is thought to beryllium a limb of prime for targeted assassinations utilizing MQ-9 Reaper drones operated by the shadowy Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The rocket besides apt features a unsocial guidance capableness that leverages automation successful bid to onslaught truthful precisely connected conscionable 1 portion of a vehicle. The targeting FLIR footage seen successful the CENTCOM video does amusement a locked conveyance (the bracket) and a acceptable of crosshairs close implicit wherever the R9X was targeted, which could constituent to however this targeting process is executed, though it is not definitive astatine this time.

The information that the Pentagon released a video showing this limb successful enactment could bespeak that we whitethorn yet find retired authoritative details astir the R9X and its origins.

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