The Pentagon killed a Kataib Hezbollah leader in downtown Baghdad in February 2024 using a weapon that employs six long blades to shred its target and minimize civilian casualties, defense officials said. The modified Hellfire missile, which inside the military is referred to colloquially as “the flying Ginsu,” recalling the popular knives sold on TV infomercials in the 1970s, was used to target Abu Baqr al-Saadi, the leader of Kataib Hezbollah in Syria. The U.S. use of the Ginsu in the Baghdad strike hasn’t been previously disclosed. …The weapon, formally known as the R9X and sometimes referred to as the Ninja bomb, is an inert Hellfire missile designed by the Pentagon and the CIA to kill terrorist leaders. It was employed, in part, because of concerns that killing innocent bystanders could inflame an already tense political situation in Iraq, which hosts roughly 2,500 American troops, the officials said.
Imagery of the strike on al-Saadi, showing the remnants of a burning but largely intact vehicle, was reminiscent of others involving the Ginsu. A weapon with an explosive warhead, like the traditional Hellfire missile, would have likely destroyed the vehicle. The U.S. has developed a variant of the Hellfire missile that replaces an explosive warhead with a ring of blades.
Excerpts from Pentagon Used Six-Bladed ‘Ginsu’ Weapon to Kill Iraqi Militia Leader, WSJ, Feb. 14, 2024
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