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The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-surface missile (ASM) first developed for anti-armor use, but later models were developed for precision strikes against other target types, such as, in the case of a Predator drone, high-value target, usually by the United States or other western nations. It was originally developed under the name ''Helicopter Launched, Fire and Forget Missile'', which led to the colloquial name 'Hellfire' ultimately becoming the missile's formal name.〔("AGM-114 Hellfire missile." ) ''Boeing'', Retrieved 3 July 2013.〕 It has multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike ability, and can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms. The Hellfire missile is the primary class air-to-ground precision weapon for the armed forces of the United States and many other nations. ==Description== The Hellfire can be deployed from rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, waterborne vessels and land-based systems against a variety of targets. The development of the Hellfire Missile System began in 1974 with the U.S. Army requirement for a "tank-buster", launched from helicopters to defeat armored fighting vehicles.〔(Introduction of the Hellfire – A Revolutionary Weapon to defeat the Soviet Armor Threat ) – Official US Army video at Real Military Flix 〕 Production of the AGM-114A started in 1982. The Development Test and Evaluation (DT&E) launch phase of the AGM-114B took place in 1984. The DT&E on the AGM-114K was completed in Fiscal Year (FY)93 and FY94. AGM-114M did not require a DT&E because it is the same as the AGM-114K except for the warhead. Most variants are laser guided with one, AGM-114L "Longbow Hellfire", being radar guided.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Longbow Hellfire )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】AGM-114L Longbow Missile )〕 Laser guidance can be provided either from the launcher, such as the nose-mounted opto-electronics of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, other airborne target designators or from ground-based observers, the latter two options allowing the launcher to break line of sight with the target and seek cover.〔(【引用サイトリンク】AGM-114 Hellfire Modular Missile System (HMMS) )〕 The Hellfire II, developed in the early 1990s is a modular missile system with several variants. Hellfire II's semi-active laser variants—AGM-114K high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), AGM-114KII with external blast fragmentation sleeve, AGM-114M (blast fragmentation), and AGM-114N metal augmented charge (MAC)—achieve pinpoint accuracy by homing in on a reflected laser beam aimed at the target. Predator and Reaper UCAVs carry the Hellfire II, but the most common platform is the AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship, which can carry up to 16 of the missiles at once. The AGM-114L, or Longbow Hellfire, is a fire-and-forget weapon: equipped with a millimeter wave (MMW) radar seeker, it requires no further guidance after launch—even being able to lock-on to its target after launch〔(【引用サイトリンク】AGM-114L Longbow Missile )〕—and can hit its target without the launcher or other friendly unit being in line of sight of the target. It also works in adverse weather and battlefield obscurants, such as smoke and fog which can mask the position of a target or prevent a designating laser from forming a detectable reflection. Each Hellfire weighs , including the warhead, and has a range of . The AGM-114R "Romeo" Hellfire II entered service in late 2012. It uses a semi-active laser homing guidance system and an integrated blast fragmentation sleeve warhead to engage targets that previously needed multiple Hellfire variants. It will replace AGM-114K, M, N, and P variants in U.S. service.〔(Army and Lockheed Martin prepare for production of advanced laser-guided Hellfire missile ) - Militaryaerospace.com, 10 April 2012〕 In October 2012, the U.S. ordered 24,000 Hellfire II missiles, for both the U.S. armed forces and foreign customers.〔(Hella Lotta Hellfires ) - Strategypage.com, October 19, 2012〕 The Joint Common Missile (JCM) was to replace Hellfire II (along with the AGM-65 Maverick) by around 2011. The JCM was developed with a tri-mode seeker and a multi-purpose warhead that would combine the capabilities of the several Hellfire variants. In the budget for FY2006, the U.S. Department of Defense canceled a number of projects that they felt no longer warranted continuation based on their cost effectiveness, including the JCM. A possible new JCM successor called the Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM) is under consideration. Due to budget reductions, JAGM development was separated into increments, with Increment 1 focusing on adding a millimeter wave radar to the Hellfire-R to give it a dual-mode seeker, enabling it to track moving targets in bad weather.〔(Army Reduces Scope Of Tri-Mode JAGM ) - Aviationweek.com, 27 August 2012〕〔(Hellfire Replacement Step Closer With Draft JAGM RFP ), Aviationweek.com, 10 June 2014〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「AGM-114 Hellfire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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