The US seem to have just used their R9X missile (Hellfire with blades) in Idlib. The fragments are the most complete example of the blades of an R9X I’ve ever seen, which gives us a few more hints about how they work. - ThreadSky

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nickwaters.bsky.social • 82 days ago

The US seem to have just used their R9X missile (Hellfire with blades) in Idlib.

The fragments are the most complete example of the blades of an R9X I’ve ever seen, which gives us a few more hints about how they work.

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Comments

bp345.bsky.social•82 days ago

holy chit mon. thing gives me the willies.

nickwaters.bsky.social•82 days ago

If you look at the perforated section highlighted in yellow, you can see it seems to have a channel in the middle.

I’m guessing that the blades sit in this perforated section before flicking out as they deploy (done my best to show this motion with the red arrows).

nickwaters.bsky.social•82 days ago

It’s a distinctive munition, which leaves a distinctive aftermath. Very much a “we were here and wanted you dead” message. So the target will be of interest.

If you want further info, I wrote about this some time ago.

H/t @godin.bsky.social for the 2nd pic!

https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/how-tos/2021/08/26/the-telltale-traces-of-the-us-militarys-new-bladed-missile-r9x/