R9X Hellfire missile used to take out al-Zawahiri is a precision ‘ninja bomb’ that uses blades to kill

NY Post ^ | August 2, 2022 | Evan Simko-Bednarski

[McGruff]

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed Monday by America’s secretive and gruesome R9X Hellfire missile — which is also known as the “flying Ginsu.”

The strangest variant in the Hellfire family of missiles — built as a precision weapon of targeted assassination — the R9X’s most distinguishing characteristic is that it doesn’t explode and simply uses its weight, momentum and blade-like appendages to kill.

First revealed by the Wall Street Journal in 2019, the modified R9X trades the standard Hellfire’s explosive warhead for a halo of six metal fins that look like swords and are sharp enough to slice through concrete and steel on their way to a target.

The lethal payload has earned the R9X nicknames like “the flying Ginsu” or “the Ninja bomb” within the defense community.

[RetiredTexasVet]

Seems that this is the third time that he has been allegedly killed (ref Dan Bongino show). 6 more wanted reward payments out there.

[fretzer]

Here’s the 2020 article.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13251511/al-qaeda-leader-ayman-al-zawahiri-dies-asthma/

[RedMonqey]

It’s a testing ground for when our leaders decide to use these weapons against us.

[mcshot]

I seem to recall that Barry whacked this guy a couple of times.

[minnesota_bound]

Where are the photos of what was left of this guy?

[dfwgator]

He’s died more times than Sean Bean.

[GOPJ]

So can war evolve to a more humane form, where precision weapons are used to kill the political, military, business and technical elite of the adversary, instead of forming masses of conscripts using artillery and bombing to kill each other, civilians and destroy military and civilian infrastructure? The killing of Zawahiri, Soleimani, grain tycoon Vadatursky, numerous Russian generals, Iranian nuclear scientists and missile engineers, and a variety of ISIS figures certainly points in that direction. In a properly run war, Zelensky would be trying to kill Putin and his henchmen, and vice versa, without a lot of collateral killing and destruction. Similarly, China and Taiwan would attempt to decapitate each other, rather than crudely mount invasions. This would get us back to more honorable warfare, as practiced among nobles and their knights, prior to massed infantry tactics of the Thirty Years War and later.

What's your take on the Ukraine and Israel wars...and Biden's speech tonight? Will this turn into a hot war?

[FarCenter]

It’s interesting that Ukraine has now used long range precision rockets to take out command posts and other rear echelon assets.

I also saw a post that Israel was more likely to proceed with a series of specific, limited attacks rather than a blanket invasion of Gaza.

I’m not sure what you mean by a “hot war”, since at least Ukraine seems like a hot war. But I think that there will be an attempt to limit actions to either proxy vs proxy (e.g. Israel vs Hamas) or proxy vs great power (Ukraine vs Russia) and avoid direct great power vs great power engagements.

[GOPJ]

Thanks - comforting...

[MNJohnnie]

I wondered that too. Then I saw the news story in this thread is from Aug 2, 2003