Ayman Al Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, was killed by two Hellfire missiles from the United States (US) drone in Kabul, Afghanistan. The missile was fired from the drone and targeted Ayman who was on the balcony. What are the capabilities of this missile like?
US officials did not specify what missiles attacked Al Zawahiri, but their statement indicated the variant was the R9X, nicknamed Ninja or Flying Ginsu. Ginsu itself refers to a knife.
The Hellfire R9X has been used by the US to kill several militant leaders in the past. In 2015, these missiles allegedly killed Jihadi John in Syria, then killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in early 2020.
The RX9 has six blades that rotate at high speed instead of a conventional warhead. So, this missile kills the target instead of detonating it so as to minimize damage or other casualties except the target.
Made by Lockheed Martin, the Hellfire RX9 weighs about 45 kilograms. Apart from drones, these missiles can be fired from helicopters and Humvee vehicles.
As mentioned, the muzzle consists of a kind of long blade that is sharp and deadly, appearing when it hits the target. Vehicles such as cars can be destroyed, even tanks.
What is the situation behind the scenes? So gun operators, who are sometimes in air-conditioned spaces in America, see live video footage of the person being targeted.
The operator can then lock onto the target and direct the laser so that when the Hellfire missile is fired, it will follow the path of the laser until it hits its target.
"In this case, it looks like they were very careful and found him in a location where they could just shoot him and not harm anyone else," said Professor William Banks, a fellow at the Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law.
Bill Roggio, an observer from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said that the attack on Zawahiri was much more difficult than before because at this time, the US government and its military were no longer in Afghanistan.
"This is the first attack against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan since America left there. This is not something unusual," he said.
The drone used in this attack is most likely an MQ-9 Reaper that flies almost silently. It is known that the MQ-9 Reaper, among others, was flown from the US Central Command headquarters located in Qatar.
Controlled by two pilots remotely, the MQ-9 Reaper can fly up to 370 kilometers per hour and can strike at any location and show the footage.