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workers load a Hellfire missile onto a U.S. Air Force MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle at a secret air base in the Persian Gulf.
- One, if not two, suspected terrorists in northwestern Syria were killed in an unusual airstrike, according to multiple reports.
- The target's minivan was reportedly struck by a munition that didn't explode but rather killed the vehicle's passengers by mashing and mincing everything in its path.
- The suspects are believed to have been eliminated by the AGM-114R9X, a US-made Hellfire variant that relies on force and six extendable blades to take out targets with greater precision and reduce civilian casualties.
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A suspected terrorist in Syria was reportedly killed with a rare US missile packed with swords, according to multiple reports.
A minivan driving through Atmeh in Syria's Idlib province was reportedly struck by the munition, apparently killing two individuals inside, one or both of which are said to have been tied to the al-Qaeda offshoot terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS).
The main target is believed to have been a trainer for an elite HTS unit known as "The Red Bands," The Telegraph reported.
The weapon that shredded the car did not explode. While the driver's side was torn apart, the vehicle was actually mostly intact.
A graphic video of the bloodstained interior of the car, a Mitsubishi Delica, showed a hole in the driver's seat and several deep cuts, the suspected result a rare munition filled with blades that minced and mashed the vehicle's passengers.
A review of fragments reportedly found at the site of the strike appears to indicate that the airstrike involved the AGM-114R9X, a modified Hellfire known as the "Flying Ginsu" and the "Ninja Bomb" because it relies solely on force and six extendable blades stored inside, rather than explosives, to eliminate targets.
The deadly precision weapon was, according to report from the Wall Street Journal in May, designed by the US to reduce civilian casualties. The Journal noted that the R9X has been used covertly, albeit rarely, against targets in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere since 2017.
The War Zone observed that the reported strike in Syria is noticeably similar to the one that killed Abu Khayr Al Masri, a senior al Qaeda leader, in Al Mastouma, Syria in 2017, which was confirmed to be the work of the R9X Hellfire variant.
The international Coalition carried out an air strike near Atmeh, northwestern Idlib, apparently with the R9X Hellfire missile, which does not have an explosive charge. The areas is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. More on the missile: https://t.co/GSDlirp2D2 pic.twitter.com/h1HnVU3qVJ
- Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) December 3, 2019This fragment is reported to have been found at the site of what may have been an RX9 (Hellfire with frikken swords) strike.
If you looks closely, you can see what appear to be hinges, as well as being and twisted projections from those hinges.
H/T @obretix, who found this. pic.twitter.com/db7ZOE6S1x
- Nick Waters (@N_Waters89) December 4, 2019NEW - @WSJ confirms the @CIA & @DeptofDefense have a new "secret" missile - the R9X, or "flying Ginsu" - which kills a selected target with 6 blades, but no explosive payload.
-- "To the targeted person, it's as if a speeding anvil fell from the sky."https://t.co/DIQfnfJYDq pic.twitter.com/iM87WUFLhg
- Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) May 9, 2019