The ACM-114 Hellfire missile is the United States’ weapon of choice when it comes to its drone assassination program, a 64-inch projectile that can travel at Mach 1.3 and deliver an 18-pound metal augmented charge containing a thermobaric explosive fill. It’s been used to kill such terrorist luminaries as Anwar al-Awlaki and Jihadi John.
Some 28 countries use the Hellfire missile, but today two were inexplicably found in the cargo hold of a commercial airliner. Packed in coffins.
A bomb dog with Air Serbia found this missiles after the plane landed in Belgrade, bound for Portland, Oregon, reports the New York Times.
Who do you think they were for? My buddy Jake lives in Portland, but I doubt he has any need for them. He just had a baby. Portland was at the vanguard of the farm-to-table restaurant movement. Could surface-to-air be the next big thing?
Anyway, if you know who these Hellfire missiles were for, let them know, as they are currently being held in Serbia by authorities.
Now, according to Oregon Live, the Lebanese Army say the missiles “were being returned to the company that produced them in accordance with administrative and legal measures after training ended.”
Sure. It also says the weapons contained no ordinance, which doesn’t explain why the bomb dog spotted it. Or why they were packed in coffins. On a commercial flight.
So buy that story at your own risk.