In the early hours of Sunday, July 31, the US military fired a missile at a building in Kabul, killing Al-Qaeda number one Ayman al-Zawahiri. Unlike other US attacks in the past, no collateral casualties were reported. And for cause. The weapon used to carry out the attack, mentioned anonymously by official sources but not mentioned by the CIA, is extremely effective.

Called Hellfire R9X, it is a derivative of the well-known Hellfire missile, already deployed by the United States in various operational fields. However, the latter has the disadvantage of causing significant collateral damage due to its explosive charge. Unlike its R9X version used on Sunday, which does have a warhead, but it’s deactivated.

Six blades deployed at the last second

The lethality of this weapon, whose existence has never been publicly confirmed, is mainly based on its 45 kg of metal. Launched at full speed, the R9X can go through cars and buildings and, of course, humans. For the intended target, being hit by such a missile is like “receiving an anvil from heaven,” explains the well-informed Wall Street Journal, which ensures that the R9X has already been used by the Pentagon and the CIA.

Added to the impact load are the six blades with which the missile is equipped, which are deployed at the last second. In addition to being crushed, the victim is found cut to pieces. A feature that in the midst of weaponry earned this missile the nickname “flying ginsu,” in reference to a brand of knives sold in the 1970s by teleshopping shows in the Atlantic. The ad said that the tools were as effective at cutting a tree branch as they were at cutting a tomato. Others evoke a “flying ninja” or “flying ninja”.

Avoid civilian casualties

The doctrine on which this weapon was developed dates back to the Obama era. The 44th President of the United States wanted to avoid civilian casualties during US fire as much as possible, especially in Afghanistan. In addition to humanitarian and legal considerations, collateral victims can damage a country’s image abroad, but also call certain alliances into question.

And how do you add the Wall Street Journal, the “flying ginsu” wishes to respond to an observation. Now seasoned after years of tactical attacks, the terrorists targeted by the United States are beginning to develop techniques to evade attacks, including hiding in groups of women and children.

The Hellfire R9X finally makes it possible to accurately kill an enemy, even when the latter is in a building full of civilians. Since it does not carry an explosive charge, it can hardly cause a building to collapse. This is also one of the reasons that motivated Joe Biden to attack Ayman al-Zawahiri on Sunday. The American president wanted at all costs that the family of the Al-Qaeda leader, who was not far away, be saved.

However, the deployment of this “ninja bomb” requires significant intelligence capabilities. The blow is surgical. Therefore, it requires knowing the exact location of the target person. To locate Ayman al-Zawahiri, the CIA investigated the movements of his wife in particular.

already seen in the past

Before the Kabul strike on Sunday, the Hellfire R9X was almost certainly identified twice. In February 2017, Ahmad Hasan Abu Khayr al-Masri, an Egyptian citizen, at the time number 2 of Al-Qaeda, was assassinated in Syria. At that moment, the impact was staggering. A simple hole had been observed in the roof of his car, and no one around had been affected.

In January 2019, this time it was the Yemeni Jamal al-Badawi who was neutralized.

in the columns of Wall Street Journal, many US officials anonymously lament that the existence of this tactical weapon was never made public. They argue that such a statement would have signaled that the United States is desperate to avoid civilian casualties.

In 2011, the missile was studied as a plan B to eliminate Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, for which an assault led by US special forces was ultimately preferred. Eleven years later, it was finally this surgical missile that was chosen to neutralize bin Laden’s successor.