The Hellfire Missile: War On Terror’s Greatest Weapon?

The AGM-114 Helicopter Launched Fire-and-Forget missile, better known all over the world as the Hellfire, has become one of the most visible and effective weapons on any battlefield in the last 20 years. originally designed to deal with thousands of Warsaw Pact tanks flooding across the west german plains during World War III, its designers never envisioned it as becoming the premier terrorist killer of all time. In this function, it has performed beyond expectations since 2001, and continues to sow fear into the hearts of America ’ second enemies as it obliterates them from the caves of Afghanistan to the deserts of Yemen. This article will delve into the parturition of this projectile, some of its greatest hits, and its future .
Lockheed-Martin began invention for the Hellfire Missile System in 1971 to meet a U.S Army necessity for a helicopter launched fire-and-forget projectile for anti-armor operations. Needing the projectile to weigh at or about 100 pounds with 18 pounds of it a shape charge warhead, the factory produced the first form, the A model, in 1982 to arm its soon-to-be chief carrier, the Hughes AH-64A Apache. From the begin, it was clear that if ever there was a match made in eden between weapon and machine, these two represented it .
The engagement of the two came in how the Apache utilized the Hellfire. Riding on a laser beam painted by the chop, the missile flew precisely where the beam focused out to 8,000 meters at a speed of 995mph, then plunged downward for impact. The top-attack manner was most effective against armor as the top is where armor was thin, and tests revealed short doubt about the slaughter it was adequate to of wreaking.

As the A variant projectile achieved functional capability with the first Apache squadrons in 1985, far refinements occurred with a B variant for the Navy featuring an better safety/arming device for shipboard use, improved seeker and automatic pilot, plus a reduced-smoke warhead. The Army then adopted this newfangled discrepancy as the C model, absent the safety/arming enhancement. As the years passed these led to further advances, such as :

• D and E models: featured a digital autopilot for the Army and Navy respectively, but which was never developed.
• F model: known as an ‘interim Hellfire’, this model received revisions to its warhead design, giving it a tandem charge to defeat reactive armor used by tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. It also featured improved guidance and slightly less range, and entered service in 1991.
• G model: naval variant of the F. Not produced.
• H model: featured reprogrammable digital autopilot. Not produced.

1989 began a wide new area of development for the Hellfire which seeked to address shortcomings. This expanded even further following the 1991 Gulf War. Starting out as the Hellfire Optimized Missile System, it became the Hellfire II. This version featured a larger bicycle-built-for-two warhead and allowed users to tune the assail profile for specific targets. other improvements included a seeker that offered better security from countermeasures and reprogrammable software. These enhancements came in a light package permitting greater range than the F version and came in the pursue models :

• J model: intended for both the Army and Navy, it never entered production.
• K model: starting delivery in 1994, it became the most widely used variant by the Army and Navy. Another variant for anti-ship use was offered for export.
• L model: though derived from the K, it featured a complete departure from Hellfire laser guidance to millimeter wave radar and was used in conjunction with the Apache Longbow helicopter. It entered service in 1998.
• M model: featured a new blast/fragmentation warhead and improved safety. Intended for the Navy MH-60R Seahawk against semi-hardened and soft targets. It entered service in 2000.
• N model: featured a thermobaric warhead.
• P model: optimized for high altitude use by drones.
• R model: under development for the Army, it features an improved engagement envelope, integrated blast/frag sleeve which gives performance similar to both a shaped charge and blast/fragmentation warhead and variable fusing.

The K, L, and M are the versions silent in use nowadays, and foremost saw service in March 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. These, along with older versions, are some of Hellfire ’ s more luminary achievements :

• 1989 Operation Just Cause: saw its first action in Panama against vehicles and structures.
• 1991 Operation Desert Storm: fired the first shot of the war on January 16, 1991, when an Apache took out an Iraqi radar site.
• 2001-present: weapon of choice for attacks against terrorist leaders. The most well-known are:
  • Sheik Ahmed  Yassin. Leader of Hamas. Killed March 22, 2004, in Gaza.
  • Anwar al-Awlaki. Leader of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Killed in Yemen September 30, 2011
  • Abu Yahya al-Libi. Deputy Commander of Al-Qaida. Killed in Pakistan, June 4, 2012.

With over 60,000 of all models produced, the Hellfire will be around for years to come. Its versatility makes it well adaptable for changing environments to the period that it has even come off the helicopter and drone launch rails to be mounted on land vehicles, electrostatic launchers and belittled boats. Of path, as with any weapon with a drawn-out career, there have been attempts to replace it in the past, starting with the joint Common Missile ( JCM ). This was expected to replace not only Hellfire, but the TOW and Maverick missiles adenine well. Funding never actually took agree though, and it was finally cancelled and resurrected as the Joint Air to Ground Missile ( JAGM ) in the former 2000s. This may or may not proceed ascribable to budget cuts and alternatively may use its components to improve the latest hellfire and, if successful, may allow a newfangled appellation of Hellfire III. It would be a match duration to one of the greatest missile designs in history .

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