Ayman al-Zawahiri's death: What is the Hellfire R9X missile that the Americans purportedly used? (2024)

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Ayman al-Zawahiri's death: What is the Hellfire R9X missile that the Americans purportedly used? ›

The R9X, also known as the "ninja bomb," was developed under the Obama administration and is said to lack an explosive charge. Equipped with six blades that deploy before impact, it shreds its target without any blast effect.

HELLFIRE is an air-to-ground missile system designed to defeat tanks and other individual targets while minimizing the exposure of the launch vehicle to enemy fire. HELLFIRE uses laser guidance and is designed to accept other guidance packages.

The missiles were originally acquired for the Coastal Ranger Commando. - This is a weapon that Ukraine has asked for, and it will prove useful in their fight against Russian invasion forces. The missile is easy to operate, and can be used against both land- and sea-targets, says Defence Minister Bjørn Arild Gram.

​ According to an analysis by “The War Zone,” the R9X doesn't explode and wields six long blades “that are stowed inside and then deploy through the skin of the missile seconds before impact to ensure that it shreds anything in its tracks,” flying directly into designated targets.

Hellfire can be used as an air-to-air or an air-to-ground missile. The Air-to-Ground (AGM)-114 provides precision striking power against tanks, structures, bunkers and helicopters. The Hellfire missile is capable of defeating any known tank in the world today.

The AGM-114 HELLFIRE is a family of guided missiles for use against fixed and moving targets by both rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Hellfire missiles ignite and burn for approximately 3 seconds before the motor burns out and the missile turns into a glide bomb. After 3 seconds no smoke trail is visible.

The Hellfire is a very capable anti-tank missile that will destroy any armored target. Penetration is believed to be around 1.000 mm RHA for the AGM-114K with tandem shaped HEAT warhead. A variety of warheads for use against soft targets have been developed as well.

Specifications. AGM-114 missiles measure between 1.63-1.75 m in length, 0.178 m in diameter, and weigh 45-48.5 kg. They have a range of 7-11 km while carrying a payload of 8-11 kg. The missile flies at subsonic speeds to a maximum of Mach 1.3 (450 m/s).

Chamayou reports that the Hellfire missile has a 'kill radius' of 50 feet (15 metres) and a 'wounding radius' of 65 feet (20 metres); the GBU-12 Paveway II has a 'casualty radius' of between 200 and 300 feet (within which 50 per cent of people will be killed).

How does the r9x Hellfire missile work? ›

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 — the R-9X has also been referred to as the 'Ninja Missile' and 'Flying Ginsu'. It is intended to reduce collateral damage when targeting specific people.

The AKD-10 is similar in capability to the AGM-114 Hellfire and it has an anti-helicopter capability in addition to an anti-tank capability. The Z-10 can also fire BA-21 long-range anti-tank missiles, which can be fired from 11 miles away, and homing onto target with the data-linked millimeter wave radar.

Unlike the Hellfire, Brimstone can be launched at supersonic speeds. When launched sub-sonically, the missile accelerates past the sound barrier three seconds after motor ignition.

AMRAAM^® – Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile – is the world's most sophisticated, combat-proven air dominance weapon.

While missiles like Maverick are released at supersonic speeds, Hellfires are shot from slow-flying helicopters. The common missile aboard helicopters (Apaches or Cobras) will have a range of 14 km, which is about twice the reach of Hellfire.

The fledgling missile was aptly named after the Sidewinder, a desert rattlesnake which detects its prey by sensing the animal's heat emissions. The result was a compact lightweight cruciform canard weapon, which used a solid propellant rocket motor, a fragmentation warhead and an uncooled optical seeker.