Hello and welcome to another episode of Military TV. Today we're taking a look at
the AGM-114 Hellfire. Why it becomes one of America’s favorite missiles? Keep watching,
you will find the answer in the video. The AGM-114 Hellfire is a short-range
tactical missile in use by over two dozen countries. It is mostly used for land-attack
missions and has seen widespread employment in the Global War on Terror. The Hellfire is
predominately air-launched, although it has also seen limited deployment on sea platforms. But
now the missile is used as everything from an anti-personnel weapon to bunker buster.
Now, let's discuss the section on Hellfire Development.
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 at standoff range.
Soviet armor outnumbered that of NATO and posed a central threat in a potential invasion of Europe.
Acknowledging this issue, the Marine Corps established a similar requirement
and joined the Hellfire development program in 1978.
Operational testing for the Hellfire ran between 1978-1981, and production began in 1982.
The missile was originally designated HELFIRE, or “HELiborne, Laser, FIRE and Forget
Missile.” The U.S. Army later adopted the colloquial “Hellfire” as the official name.
The Hellfire mission set has expanded significantly since its inception.
Today the missile is used to target bunkers, radars, communications equipment,
small buildings, fast-attack craft, and slow-moving or hovering helicopters.
Hellfire capabilities have improved over decades of development, to tackle this
wider range of targets, as well as to address countermeasures and obscurants and improve
general mission efficacy and became the first Hellfire missile to feature a tandem warhead,
which consisted of two charges: one to set off the reactive armor,
and a second to punch through the tank. The United States also developed AGM-114K
in the 1990s, the first of the so-called “Hellfire II” systems. Designed to improve lethality and
operate better in a countermeasure or obscured environment, it featured several enhancements
over previous models. These upgrades included a new digital autopilot, a larger warhead,
an improved seeker, and reprogrammable software used to select different attack patterns in which
to approach and strike its target. The “K” variant was also the first Hellfire capable of reacquiring
its target after losing its laser lock. Later derivatives improved upon the missile’s warhead,
first decreasing warhead sensitivity to prevent accidental detonation,
and later adding a blast fragmentation sleeve to increase effectiveness against unarmored targets.
Talking about the specification, the AGM-114 measure between 1.63-1.75 m in length,
0.178 m in diameter, and weigh 45-48.5 kg. They have a range of 7-11 km while carrying
a payload of 8-11 kg. The missile flies at subsonic speeds to a maximum of Mach 1.3
(450 m/s). The tactical missiles are propelled by a single stage, single thrust,
solid propellant motor. When thrust exceeds 500 to 600 pounds, the missile leaves the rail.
Based on a 10g acceleration parameter, arming occurs between 150 to 300 meters after launch.
Maximum velocity of the missile is 950 miles per hour. Maximum standoff range is a function of
missile performance, launch platform altitude versus target altitude, visibility and cloud
cover. Remote designation allows the launch aircraft to stand off at greater distances from
the target. This standoff range can be out to the maximum missile effective engagement range.
There are different techniques for tactical employment of the Hellfire missile on the
battlefield. These techniques are ultimately driven by the two engagement methods by which
the missile can be controlled to the target: autonomous and remote. An autonomous engagement
requires the aircraft launching the missile to guide it all the way to the target after the
missile is away. In this method, a single aircraft and its crew will locate, identify, fire, and
guide the missile until destruction of the target in the same way an M2/M3 Bradley crew employs its
TOW missiles. In contrast, a remote engagement requires an aircraft to serve as a launch
platform, providing a missile for another aircraft or a ground observer, designating with a laser,
to guide the missile to its intended target. Here are the various U.S platforms across the
services carry the Hellfire missile:  The Army’s platform, we have: AH-64
Apache helicopter, OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, AH-1W Super-Cobra, AH-1Z Viper, MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS,
and Special Operations aircraft for.  The Navy’s platform, they are:
SH-60B/HH-60H Seahawk  While for the Marine Corps,
they are KC-130J tanker and AH-1W Super Cobra  The last U.S platform is Air Force’s
MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper UCAVs The United States primarily employs the AGM-114
“Longbow” and “Romeo” today, due to their guidance and multimission capability, respectively.
Foreign operators appear to use these variants as well as the earlier AGM-114K.
The last part, let’s talk about Hellfire Service History
The United States has deployed the Hellfire missile in numerous combat operations.
These include Operation Just Cause (Panama 1989), Operation Desert Storm/Shield (Iraq 1991),
Operation Allied Force (Yugoslavia 1999), Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan 2001),
and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq 2003), as well as various conflicts and targeted killings
involved in the War on Terror. In 1999, the U.S. Air Force began a program to equip its unarmed,
surveillance-focused MQ-1 Predator drone with the Hellfire. The Predator first
flight-tested a Hellfire in January 2001 and fired one in combat in October 2001.33
The Predator/Hellfire combination proved to be popular. Between 1998-2018,
the Defense Department procured over 71,500 Hellfire missiles at the cost of $7.2 billion.
In 1992, the Government Accountability Office reviewed the missile’s performance during
Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. The GAO found that Hellfires fired between October 1990
and February 1991 had a 79 percent hit-rate notably under the Army’s 90 percent requirement.
The GAO has not conducted a publicly available assessment of Hellfire performance since, however,
and only the older AGM-114A and -C missiles were used in Desert Storm and Desert Shield.
Outside of the United States, Here are the nations that use the Hellfire:
The international operators also have used the missile in counterinsurgency operations. France,
for example, has employed Hellfire missiles against militant groups in Mali and Northern
Africa. Iraq has also used Hellfire missiles against ISIS fighters within its territory.
We conclude that the Hellfire’s finest hours came in the 1991 Persian Gulf War when Army
Apaches claimed 500 Iraqi tank kills with the missile. That’s not even counting Hellfire kills
achieved by AH-1 Cobras. It’s one of the reason why the missiles become the America’s favorite.