AGM-114 Hellfire

The AGM-114 Hellfire is an American air-to-ground missile originally developed for the laser-guided anti-tank role and entering service in the mid-1980s, its name derived from its original designation as a Helicopter-launched fire-and-forget missile, first fielded on the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter to give it a precision, long-range means of destroying tanks and other armored vehicles by following a laser beam reflected off the target, either from the launching aircraft itself or from another aircraft or ground observer designating the target. Beyond its original anti-armor role, later versions of the Hellfire family added alternative guidance modes and warhead types, including a radar-guided fire-and-forget version and smaller, more precise warheads intended to reduce collateral damage, and the missile became the primary weapon carried by armed unmanned aircraft such as the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper for targeted strikes. The Hellfire has been used operationally in nearly every major American military engagement since the 1991 Gulf War, including Afghanistan, Iraq and numerous counterterrorism strikes, making it one of the most extensively combat-proven precision-guided munitions in American service.