Hellfire Missile:
India recently concluded a deal with the US for the procurement of 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles.
- The AGM-114 Hellfire missile is one of the most popular short-range air-to-ground (sometimes air-to-air) laser-guided, subsonic tactical missiles used by the United States military as well as 30 US allies.
- The United States began developing the AGM-114 Hellfire in 1972 to address the Army’s requirement for a helicopter-launched antitank missile to counter Soviet armor formations.
- The missile is used to target armored vehicles, including tanks, bunkers, radar systems and antennas, communications equipment, soft targets, or hovering helicopters.
- It is the missile of choice for several kinds of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), such as the MQ-1B Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and MQ-1C Grey Eagle
- It has a length of 1.62 m, a diameter of 17.7 cm and a wingspan of 0.71 m.
- Each Hellfire weighs 45.4 kg-49 kg including an 8 kg-9 kg multipurpose warhead.
- It is propelled by a single-stage solid-propellant solid-fuel rocket motor.
- The missile has a maximum velocity of 950 mph.
- It can be launched from several different kinds of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, surface ships, and military ground vehicles.
- It uses a semi-active laser guidance system and an integrated blast fragmentation sleeve warhead to engage targets that previously needed several Hellfire variants to destroy.
