The Hellfire missile is cheap and effective—but critics allege that it has given rise to a culture within US military leadership of using lethal force as a first resort.

President Trump’s kinetic strikes against alleged Venezuelan drug runners has continued over the past week, with a sixth boat targeted for destruction. The administration has offered few operational details on the strikes, leaving the public to speculate the specifics. It has refused to disclose, for instance, what type of ordnance is being used to destroy these small surface vessels. Although the answer remains unconfirmed, the US Navy’s weapon of choice is likely the AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile. 

Introducing the Hellfire Missile

The AGM-114 Hellfire began as a way to give helicopters the ability to kill armored vehicles from beyond the range of small arms. Conceived in the 1970s and fully developed by the 1980s, the Hellfire family of missiles evolved rapidly from a single-purpose anti-tank missile into one of the world’s most widely used precision strike munitions. The platform is flexible—with compact size, a powerful shaped charge, and a guidance head that can be adapted to different functions. The result is an effective weapon that can be carried on a wide variety of small airframes, helicopter and fixed-wing alike. 

The earliest Hellfires were laser-guided, semi-active missiles. A third-party operator would “paint” the target with a laser, and the missile would home in on the reflected energy. This design worked well enough against isolated armor and hardened-point targets. But over time, the missile was diversified. Variants with millimeter-wave radar seekers made it possible to engage targets through more trying atmospheric conditions like smoke, dust, or poor visibility—all while reducing dependency on laser illumination.

The Hellfire missile’s warhead options increased, too. The initial single-charge high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds expanded to tandem charges designed to defeat reactive armor, to blast/fragmentation and thermobaric designs intended for structures and soft-skinned targets. Integration with various platforms followed—everything from attack helicopters to fixed wing aircraft to AC-130 gunships, and, more recently, unmanned systems like the MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper. 

The Hellfire Missile’s Controversial History

The Hellfire’s first significant employment came during Operation Desert Storm, when it was used to destroy Iraqi armor in the deserts of Kuwait. After the September 11 attacks and through the subsequent Global War on Terrorism, the Hellfire became a staple of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism campaigns. Mounted on drones, Hellfires allowed surveillance platforms to perform strike missions. The ramifications of that capability have been profound, allowing the US to perpetually monitor targets—and prosecute those targets—fundamentally changing how war is fought in the 21st century. 

At the same time, the Hellfire’s versatile and consistent deployment has given rise to intense controversy. The weapon’s pairing with remotely piloted systems has created a new era of deniable, low-profile yet highly lethal operations—all of which raise thorny ethical, legal, and diplomatic questions about targeted killings, state sovereignty, and accountability. 

From a legal perspective, the Hellfire has a long-track record of being deployed without hard legal justification. Ethically, the Hellfire lowers the threshold for lethal force. Because the platform is tiny, precise, and launchable from long-endurance drones, the Hellfire makes killing feel surgical and low-cost. There are no raids or troop deployments or even manned airstrikes. The convenience of the Hellfire therefore normalized lethal action as a first resort against enemies, as the Obama administration demonstrated repeatedly during the War on Terror. The Trump administration has run with the same playbook—as it is demonstrating now against alleged drug runners in the Caribbean Sea. 

About the Author: Harrison Kass

Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer at The National Interest. Kass is an attorney and former political candidate who joined the US Air Force as a pilot trainee before being medically discharged. He focuses on military strategy, aerospace, and global security affairs. He holds a JD from the University of Oregon and a master’s in Global Journalism and International Relations from NYU.

Image: Shutterstock / Michael Fitzsimmons.

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