Procurement: Can't Get Enough Hellfire

Archives

August 10, 2009: The UAE (United Arab Emirates) has ordered 362 more Hellfire II missiles from the United States. The Hellfire II weighs 106 pounds, carries a 20 pound warhead and has a range of 8,000 meters. The missile is most commonly used by the AH-64 helicopter gunship (which the UAE has 30 of). An AH-64 can carry up to sixteen Hellfires. The major naval threat in the Persian Gulf are hundreds of small, but armed, Iranian speedboats. The Hellfire, launched from a helicopter, is an excellent cure for this problem.

The UAE has been ordering a lot of American weapons lately, largely because it can, and in response to the increasingly hostile attitudes expressed by Iran.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close