Editing AGM-114 Hellfire (section)

==Operational history==
{{see also|Drone strikes in Pakistan|Drone strikes in Yemen}}
[[File:Destroyed M1A1 Abrams.jpg|thumb|[[M1A1 Abrams]] main battle tank destroyed by [[friendly fire]] in 1991 Gulf War; one Abrams is thought to have been accidentally set on fire by a Hellfire missile fired from an [[Boeing AH-64 Apache|Apache helicopter]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Operation Desert Storm: Investigation of a U.S. Army Fratricide Incident |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OSI-95-10/pdf/GAOREPORTS-OSI-95-10.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-OSI-95-10/pdf/GAOREPORTS-OSI-95-10.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |website=Govinfo |series=GAO/OSI-95-10 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |publication-date=7 April 1995 |agency=General Accounting Office}}</ref>]]

In 2009, the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|British Ministry of Defence]] (MoD) acknowledged that [[Army Air Corps (United Kingdom)|Army Air Corps]] (AAC) [[AgustaWestland Apache]]s had used AGM-114N Hellfire missiles against [[Taliban]] forces [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|in Afghanistan]]. The MoD stated that 20 missiles were used in 2008 and a further 20 in 2009. In the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]], [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] politician [[Nick Harvey]] argued that the "Parliament must be reassured these are a weapon of last resort."<ref>{{Cite news|first=Richard|last=Norton-Taylor|authorlink=Richard Norton-Taylor|title=MoD admits use of controversial 'enhanced blast' weapons in Afghanistan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/may/28/british-pilots-afghanistan-thermobaric-weapons|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=28 May 2009|access-date=9 November 2022}}</ref>

AGM-114 Hellfire missiles were used to kill [[Hamas]] leader [[Ahmed Yassin]] by the [[Israeli Air Force]] (IAF) in 2004,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/23/israel6|title=Assassination method: surveillance drone and a Hellfire missile|date=23 March 2004|access-date=4 December 2010|location=London|work=The Guardian|first=Brian|last=Whitaker|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130828003621/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/23/israel6|archive-date=28 August 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=2639 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816132853/http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=2639 |archive-date=16 August 2007 |title=The Life And Death of Shaikh Yasin |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=25 March 2004 |access-date=20 October 2010}}</ref> and by the [[United States Armed Forces|US military]] to kill American-born Islamic cleric [[Anwar al-Awlaki]] in [[Yemen]] in 2011,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kasinoff |first1=Laura |last2=Mazzetti |first2=Mark |last3=Cowell |first3=Alan |title=U.S.-Born Qaeda Leader Killed in Yemen |work=The New York Times |date=30 September 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/world/middleeast/anwar-al-awlaki-is-killed-in-yemen.html?hp |access-date=26 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319011734/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/world/middleeast/anwar-al-awlaki-is-killed-in-yemen.html?hp |archive-date=19 March 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Al-Qaeda]] operative [[Abu Yahya al-Libi]] in [[Pakistan]] in 2012, [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|al-Shabaab]] militant [[Ahmed Abdi Godane|Mukhtar Abu Zubair]] in [[Somalia]] in 2014,<ref name="godane">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/05/world/africa/somali-militant-killed/index.html |title=Top Somali militant killed in U.S. operation, Pentagon says |work=CNN|date=5 September 2014 |access-date=5 September 2014 |author=Martinez, Michael |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905234940/http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/05/world/africa/somali-militant-killed/index.html |archive-date=5 September 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> and British [[Islamic State|ISIL]] executioner [[Jihadi John|Mohammed Emwazi]] (also known as "Jihadi John") in [[Syria]] in 2015.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11993569/How-the-US-and-UK-tracked-down-and-killed-Jihadi-John.html|title=How the US and UK tracked down and killed Jihadi John|date=13 November 2015|work=The Telegraph|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213125535/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11993569/How-the-US-and-UK-tracked-down-and-killed-Jihadi-John.html|archive-date=13 February 2018}}</ref> They were also used in the [[assassination of Qasem Soleimani]] as well as the [[killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/killing-soleimani-how-was-the-operation-carried-out-1.1578063347074 | title=Killing Soleimani: How was the operation carried out? | date=4 January 2020 }}</ref>

The AGM-114 has occasionally been used as an [[air-to-air missile]]. The first operational air-to-air kill with a Hellfire took place on 24&nbsp;May 2001, after a civilian [[Cessna&nbsp;152]] aircraft entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon, with unknown intentions and refusing to answer or comply with [[air traffic control|ATC]] repeated warnings to turn back. An Israeli Air Force AH-64A Apache helicopter fired on the Cessna, resulting in its complete disintegration.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/1,7340,L-761410,00.html|title=מטוס ססנה לבנוני הופל מעל מכמורת|language=he|trans-title=Lebanese Cessna shot down over Mikhmoret|publisher=Ynet|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206223627/http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/1,7340,L-761410,00.html|archive-date=6 February 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web  |title=Israel shoots down Lebanese civilian plane |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/05/24/israel.plane.02/index.html?_s=PM:WORLD  |work=CNN|access-date=1 July 2021}}</ref> The second operational air-to-air kill with a Hellfire occurred on 10&nbsp;February 2018, after an Iranian [[unmanned aerial vehicle|UAV]] entered Israeli airspace from Syria. An Israeli Air Force AH-64 launched a Hellfire missile at the UAV, successfully destroying it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Jt_Vy4Mj0|title=Iranian UAV Intercepted by an Israeli Helicopter|publisher=Israel Defense Forces|date=10 February 2018|access-date=10 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210144107/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Jt_Vy4Mj0|archive-date=10 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>{{third-party inline|date=February 2019}}

In January 2016 ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' reported that one training missile without a warhead was accidentally shipped to Cuba in 2014 after a training mission in Europe;<ref>Devlin Barrett, Gordon Lubold. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/missing-u-s-missile-shows-up-in-cuba-1452213667 "Missing U.S. Missile Shows Up in Cuba"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304052743/https://www.wsj.com/articles/missing-u-s-missile-shows-up-in-cuba-1452213667 |date=4 March 2017}}. ''The Wall Street Journal'', 8 January 2016.</ref> it was later returned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/cuba-returns-dummy-hellfire-missile-mistakenly-received-36917908|title=Cuba Returns Dummy Hellfire Missile Mistakenly Received|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213215725/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/cuba-returns-dummy-hellfire-missile-mistakenly-received-36917908|archive-date=13 February 2016|url-status=dead|last1=Klapper|first1=Bradley|date=13 February 2016|work=ABC News|access-date=1 October 2017}}</ref> A US official said that this was an inert "dummy" version of the Lockheed system stripped of its warhead, fuse, guidance equipment and motor, known as a "Captive Air Training Missile".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/us-missile-disappears-turns-cuba-wsj-060622406.html|title=Dummy US missile disappears, turns up in Cuba|date=8 January 2016|work=Yahoo News|access-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305115856/http://news.yahoo.com/us-missile-disappears-turns-cuba-wsj-060622406.html|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/08/462391906/hellfire-missile-sent-to-cuba-was-inert-u-s-state-department-says|title=Hellfire Missile Wrongly Sent To Cuba Was Inert, U.S. Official Says|date=8 January 2016|publisher=NPR|access-date=4 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330231906/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/08/462391906/hellfire-missile-sent-to-cuba-was-inert-u-s-state-department-says|archive-date=30 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>