US Army Buys Latest Hellfire II Metal Augmented Charge Missiles

Released on Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Lockheed-Martin has been awarded a $90 million contract for continued production of the combat-proven Hellfire air-to-ground missile. The new contract calls for Lockheed-Martin to produce more than 1,000 semi-active laser-guided Hellfire II missiles with last deliveries expected well into 2007.

The Hellfire II Buy 11 includes 900 AGM-114N Hellfire II Metal Augmented Charge (MAC) warhead missile, 180 AGM-114K Hellfire II high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) missiles, and conversion of 100 HEAT missiles to the MAC warhead missile configuration. The order also includes training missiles along with corresponding training and support packages. Production work will de done at Lockheed-Martin's manufacturing plants in Ocala (seeker electronics), Florida, and Troy (missile final assembly), Alabama.

The Hellfire missile has demonstrated to be extremely effective against ships light armor and urban targets in recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. During Operation Iraqi Freedom more than 1,000 Hellfire II (all three variants) and Longbow Hellfire rounds were successfully fired by coalition forces.

The semi-active laser-guided Hellfire is available in three configurations: AGM-114K HEAT missile, AGM-114M blast fragmentation missile, and AGM-114N MAC missile. AGM-114K is used against heavy armored vehicles such as main battle tanks or armored personnel carriers. AGM-114M suits well against ships, caves, light-armored vehicles, buildings, bunkers, and other urban targets. The last Hellfire II missile family member, AGM-114N, is used against enclosed structures. In addition, AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire fire and forget missile uses the HEAT warhead and millimeter wave seeker.

The newest AGM-114N Hellfire II can take out the first floor of a building without damaging the floors above, and is capable of reaching around corners, striking enemy forces that hide in caves or bunkers and hardened multi-room complexes. The US Army has reported that Hellfire II missiles were assessed as highly performing and durable in the desert environment after Operation Iraqi Freedom.