AGM-114-RX9
The Hellfire R9X is a Hellfire variant with a kinetic warhead with pop-out blades instead of explosives, used against specific human targets. Its lethality is due to 45 kg (100 lb) of dense material with six blades flying at high speed, to crush and cut the targeted person— the R9X has also been referred to as the 'Ninja Missile' and 'Flying Ginsu'. It is intended to reduce collateral damage when targeting specific people. Deployed in secret in 2017, its existence has been public since 2019. This variant was used in the killing in 2017 of Abu Khayr al-Masri, a member of Al-Qaeda's leadership, and in 2019 of Jamal Ahmad Mohammad Al Badawi, accused mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole bombing. The weapon has also been used in Syria, and in Afghanistan against a Taliban commander. It was used twice in 2020 against senior al-Qaeda leaders in Syria; in September 2020 US officials estimated that it had been used in combat around six times.
Hellfire missiles fired by a Reaper drone were used on 31 July 2022 to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al-Qaeda, who had formerly been involved in planning the 9/11 and other attacks on US targets. It was reported that the missile hit him on a balcony, causing minimal collateral damage. Reports stress that avoiding other casualties was a priority for the mission, following drone attacks that killed several uninvolved people, attracting much criticism. It is widely thought that the Hellfires were the R9X variant, but a United States Special Operations Command spokesman declined to comment, while confirming that the R9X was "in US Special Operations Command's munitions inventory".
| Real World against Arma | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Detail | Real | ARMA | Config Value |
| Weapon Type | AGM | weaponType = "x"; | |
| Mass | 49 | 49 | mag: mass = "n"; |
| Warhead Mass | 0 | 225 | ammo: hit = "n"; (Proportionate Value mass vs hit ref Mk82) |
| Warhead Type | Kinetic | N/A | ammo: warheadName = "x"; |
| Fuse Type | Laser Prox | NOTE: No Direct Arma value | |
| Fuse Range | 5 | 5 | ammo: proximityExplosionDistance = n; |
| Seeker | Laser | Laser | See class component type |
| Auto Seek Target | No | No | ammo: autoseektarget = n; (0 or 1) |
| Counter Measure Immunity | High | 0.97 | ammo: cmimmunity = n; (Range 0 > 1) |
| Camera View Available | Yes | Yes | ammo: cameraViewAvailable = n; (0 or 1) |
| Flight Profile | Direct, Top Down | Direct, Top Down | ammo: flightProfiles[] = {"<TYPE>"}; |
| BoreSight Angle | 120 | 180 | ammo: missileLockCone = n; (Degrees) |
| Max Speed (m/s) | 450 | 450 | ammo: maxSpeed = n; (n= m/s) |
| Min Range | 0.5km | 500 | ammo: minRange = n; (Dist in m) |
| Max Range | 11km | 6000 | ammo: maxRange = n; (Dist in m) |
| Indirect Hit Value | 1 | ammo: indirectHit = 50; | |
| Indirect Hit Range | 0.5 | ammo: indirectHitRange = n; (m) | |
| Maneuverability | 32 G | 42 | ammo: maneuvrability = n; (Higher = more agile) |
| Danger Radius Hit | N/A | ammo: DangerRadiusHit = n; (Dist for AI aware in m) | |
| Suppression Radius Hit | N/A | ammo: SuppresionRadiusHit = n; (Dist for AI suppresion in m) | |
| Pylon/Rail | M299, M310 | N/A See Hardpoint below | |
| ARMA Class details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ammo | Mag | Weapon | Hardpoint |
| rksl_amo_agm114rx9 | rksl_mag_agm114rx9_x1_direct | rksl_wpn_agm114rx9 | AGM114RX9_DIRECT |
| rksl_mag_agm114rx9_x4_m299 | AGM114RX9_M299 | ||
| rksl_mag_agm114rx9_x2_m310 | AGM114RX9_M310 | ||