US Develops New Variant of Hellfire Missile for Targeted Assassinations

American Missile That Uses Sword Blades Instead of Explosives Has Struck Again In Syria (excerpt)

(Source: The Drive; posted Dec. 07, 2019)

For the second time this week, the secretive AGM-114R9X Hellfire missile has punched a hole through a car's roof and sliced its target to death.

There are no confirmed reports as to who was targeted in this latest strike, which occurred near the town of Afrin in Aleppo Governorate, although there are some unconfirmed claims. Supposedly, three people were killed in the vehicle when the bladed weapon smashed through the roof of the vehicle.

We followed up our report on a similar strike earlier this week in which an AGM-119R9X was used with a photo of the missile's blade-wielding metallic core that survived the impact with the vehicle (see below). It provided great insight into how the weapon actually works, which confirmed our suspicions. Read our complete analysis here.

It's not clear what has caused what seems like a sudden uptick in the use of this highly unique weapon, but it appears that it is becoming the weapon of choice for targeted assassinations by the U.S. in Northern Syria. Still, one thing remains unclear about this missile system—its guidance system. (end of excerpt)

Click here for the full story, on The Drive website.

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