The missile the US military used to kill Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Baqir al-Saadi in Baghdad on February 7 is nicknamed “the Flying Ginsu,” due to the six spinning blades that shred the target, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The “Flying Ginsu” is a modified Hellfire missile formally known as the R9X. Unlike the standard Hellfire precision-guided missile, the R9X does not carry an explosive payload. Instead, after the missile is fired from a drone, six sharp blades are deployed at the tip. The missile’s kinetic energy causes the blades to spin so when it strikes the target, the spinning blades literally slice and dice.
The nickname was derived from the brand of knives that were sold on TV in the 1980s and 90s.
The Hellfire R9X bladed missile was first developed by Lockheed Martin in 2011 after then-President Barack Obama called for a reduction in civilian deaths from drone strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
The first known targeted killing with the Flying Ginsu was to take out Ayman al-Zawahiri’s second-in-command Abu Khayr al-Masri in Syria in 2017. Photos following the drone strike showed that the R9X sliced through the roof of al-Masri’s car and tore its occupants apart.
Ayman al-Zawahiri himself met the same fate in July 2022 when the US launched an R9X bladed missile on a Kabul apartment where Zawahiri was living under Taliban protection.
In the February 9 attack, Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Baqr al-Saadi was traveling in a car in eastern Baghdad when the R9X missile hit the vehicle.
While it is unclear how many times the “Flying Ginsu” has been used, it is generally reserved for high-profile kills in areas where a conventional missile would result in a high casualty count.
Saadi was targeted as part of the Pentagon’s retaliatory strikes following multiple attacks by Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq.
Pentagon officials told the Wall Street Journal that al-Saadi was likely driving through a crowded part of Baghdad at the time believing that being surrounded by civilians would protect him from retaliation.