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The United States killed al Qaeda boss Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike Saturday, following a more than 20-year effort to assassinate the terrorist. Labeled by US officials as Osama bin Laden’s number-two, al-Zawahiri, 71, was a key plotter of the September 11 terrorist attacks and took over as the leader of the notorious terror group following bin Laden’s death in 2011. The strike was carried out early Sunday at an Afghanistan safe house the elderly terrorist had be holed up in, at 6:18 am local time and 9:48 pm Saturday in the US. The early morning attack saw al-Zawahiri...

The Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia, three people familiar with the situation said.

Israel shared three cell phone numbers used by Qasem Soleimani with U.S. intelligence in the hours before American drones unleashed Hellfire missiles on the Iranian general last year, Yahoo News reported Saturday. The revelation sheds new light on the role that Israel played in the killing of Soleimani, who the State Department says was responsible for hundreds of U.S. troop deaths as the head of the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force. The drone strike occurred shortly after midnight on Jan. 2, 2020, as Soleimani and his entourage were leaving Baghdad's international airport. As three Delta Force sniper teams monitored Soleimani...

The U.S.-led military coalition in Syria likely used a unique variant of the beloved Hellfire missile to kill a mercenary trainer who recently worked with an al Qaeda-affiliated militant group there, according to photos from the scene of the strike. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported last week that a drone strike likely affiliated with the U.S.-led international military coalition in the country was responsible for killing Abu Yahya al-Uzbeki, an independent "military trainer" recently affiliated with the al Qaeda-linked Hurras Al-Din organization, while he was traveling in Syria's Idlib province. Photos of the aftermath of the strike on...

The CIA and the U.S. military have been using a new type of missile during some drone strikes in recent years, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. What makes this new missile unique? It doesn’t explode and instead deploys sharp blades, hitting targets “like a speeding anvil” from the sky. The new missile, which has never been acknowledged publicly before today, is called the R9X and is a variant of the Hellfire missile. But unlike a traditional Hellfire, the R9X is designed with six long blades that only emerge from the missile seconds before impact. The R9X,...

Ever heard of a missile that doesn’t explode? That, the Wall Street Journal reports, is a key feature of a secret weapon adapted by the US military. It’s a modified version of a Hellfire missile that hits pinpoint targets but doesn’t explode on impact, meaning reduced damage and less risk of civilian casualties. The weapon, which the Journal likens to a “speeding anvil” falling out of the sky, is known as R9X. But it also has a nickname, “the flying Ginsu,” inspired by its hidden ring of six blades, which emerges just before impact and shreds anything it meets.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. government has developed a specially designed, secret missile for pinpoint airstrikes that kill terrorist leaders with no explosion, drastically reducing damage and minimizing the chances of civilian casualties, multiple current and former U.S. officials said. Both the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon have used the weapon while closely guarding its existence. A modified version of the well-known Hellfire missile, the weapon carries an inert warhead. Instead of exploding, it is designed to plunge more than 100 pounds of metal through the tops of cars and buildings to kill its target without harming individuals and property close by....

The United States has developed an awesome new weapon for killing high-value targets without causing extensive collateral damage, and it has already proven itself in at least five countries. A game-changer? The United States has developed an awesome new weapon for killing high-value targets without causing extensive collateral damage, and it has already proven itself in at least five countries. The missile, which is dubbed the R9X “Flying Ginsu,” is a non-explosive missile which kills the enemy target with kinetic energy and six blades. The missile was developed “for the express purpose of reducing civilian casualties,” and is known for...

Arsonists lights himself on fire and leaves his car behind

https://youtu.be/en1uwIzI3SE

WASHINGTON, May 3 (UPI) -- France has received U.S. State Department approval for the purchase of additional Hellfire missiles through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. The new French request is specifically for an additional 200 Lockheed Martin AGM-114K1A Hellfire missiles, Hellfire missile conversion, blast fragmentation sleeves and installation kits, containers, and transportation. The total estimated cost of the deal is $30 million. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which manages the FMS program, said in its notification to Congress that the additional missiles will meet France's operational requirements for a precision guided tactical missile for its Tigre Attack Helicopter....

Belgrade, Serbia – KATU reports that Serbian officials have found 2 missiles with “explosive warheads” in a cargo crate on an Air Serbia passenger jet from Lebanon to Serbia. The crate was tagged to Portland, Oregon. With all the security at international airports, how did this “cargo” get on board the flight in the first place? hellfire missiles AGM-114 Hellfire Missile – two of these were found aboard a passenger plane and tagged for Portland, Oregon N1 Television out of Serbia reports that two guided armor-piercing AGM-114 Hellfire missiles were found in a wooden crate that listed the final destination...

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia's authorities are investigating reports that a cargo package bound for Portland contained two missiles with explosive warheads on a passenger flight from Lebanon. N1 television said the package with two guided armor-piercing missiles was discovered Saturday by a sniffer dog after an Air Serbia flight from Beirut landed at a Belgrade airport.

WASHINGTON -- A dummy U.S. Hellfire missile was mistakenly shipped from Europe to Cuba in 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The inert missile did not contain any explosives, the Journal reported, but there are concerns that Cuba could share the technology with potential U.S. adversaries like North Korea or Russia. The Journal report was attributed to anonymous "people familiar with the matter." A U.S. official with knowledge of the situation, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity, confirmed its veracity to The Associated Press. According to the Defense Department, the Hellfire is a...

An inert U.S. Hellfire missile sent to Europe for training purposes was wrongly shipped from there to Cuba in 2014, said people familiar with the matter, a loss of sensitive military technology that ranks among the worst-known incidents of its kind. The unintended delivery of the missile to Cuba has confounded investigators and experts who work in a regulatory system designed to prevent precisely such equipment from falling into the wrong hands, said those familiar with the matter.

The British Army’s need for a future attack helicopter weapon system has led MBDA to begin promoting a potential candidate derived from its 50kg (110lb) Brimstone air-to-surface missile. Craig Hoyle/MBDA Displayed for the first time at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition in London, the concept builds on the existing dual-mode Brimstone, which is currently being used by the Royal Air Force’s Panavia Tornado GR4s to attack Islamic State targets in Iraq. An image of a potential combination shows a Boeing AH-64E Apache carrying a maximum load of 16 of the precision-strike weapons. Currently equipped with a dual-mode...

The Obama administration stopped shipping to Israel all defense items – and not just Hellfire missiles as previously reported – for a short time in the middle of the war against Hamas, reported Israel Defense’s Amir Rappaport, the well-informed and highly credibly editor of the website. Makor Rishon added to that report that the US actually cut off all communications with Israel’s Ministry of Defense purchasing offices in the US for days.

Revealed: U.S. Cut Off Arms Supply to Israel During Gaza WarPosted By P. David Hornik On October 22, 2014 @ 12:50 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 11 Comments Last August 14 the Wall Street Journal reported that, in July, after Israel had launched Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, Washington had surprised Israel by turning down an Israeli request for “a large number of Hellfire missiles.” Hellfires are an important air-to-surface precision weapon, suited to the kind of warfare Israel was waging against Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza.But as Amir Rapaport, a veteran Israeli military-affairs writer and editor...

TEL AVIV — The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to reduce military coproduction with the United States. A leading Israeli analyst asserted that the Defense Ministry and the military agreed to reduce production of Israeli weapons and platforms in the United States. The analyst, Amir Rapaport, said the decision was based on the U.S. suspension of arms deliveries during the 50-day war with Hamas in July and August 2014. “The Israeli defense establishment will reduce the production of weapon systems in the USA in the context of joint Israeli-American projects, and will rely more heavily on Israeli-made products,”...

Last August 14 the Wall Street Journal reported that, in July, after Israel had launched Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, Washington had surprised Israel by turning down an Israeli request for “a large number of Hellfire missiles.” Hellfires are an important air-to-surface precision weapon, suited to the kind of warfare Israel was waging against Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. But as Amir Rapaport, a veteran Israeli military-affairs writer and editor of the Israel Defense site, now reports: The full truth…is much more severe: apparently, during Operation Protective Edge, the USA had completely stopped all connections with Israel’s defense...