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American troops in Iraq made first use of a new kind of helicopter-launched Hellfire missile, Rumsfeld said. The AGM-114N Metal Augmented Charge Hellfire uses a thermobaric warhead, which creates a blast wave that kills people while leaving a building, bunker or cave intact.


Rumsfeld said the new missile "can take out the first floor of a building without damaging the floors above, and is capable of reaching around corners, striking enemy forces that hide in caves or bunkers and hardened multiroom complexes."


Marine Corps AH-1 Cobra helicopters used the missile in Iraq. The Pentagon (news - web sites) spent $14.8 million developing the new warhead after Marine Corps officials asked for a weapon that would be more effective against enemies in confined spaces such as bunkers or the interior rooms of a large building.


Putting a thermobaric warhead on a Hellfire costs $35,000 above the $57,000 cost for each basic missile.


American forces used another new kind of thermobaric bomb for the first time during the war in Afghanistan (news - web sites) to clear out caves where Taliban and al-Qaida members were hiding. The new Hellfire missile uses a different warhead composition to create a similar blast wave effect.


The high-tech Hellfire is an example of the kind of weaponry the Pentagon wants more money to develop, Rumsfeld told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. He was testifying to support President Bush (news - web sites)'s $380 billion defense budget request for 2004.


The proposal would represent a 4.2 percent increase over this year's Pentagon budget, not including the more than $62 billion Congress approved for spending on the Iraq war.


Rumsfeld said Bush's budget proposal, despite the increase, took risks in putting money toward forming and equipping a lighter, more mobile military. The spending proposal is part of a four-year Pentagon budget plan that seeks to save $80 billion by 2009 by canceling or scaling back programs which don't fit into that vision.


"We've tried to balance those risks and it's not an easy thing to do," Rumsfeld said.

Very excellent...The Hellfire is a very good missile to mount the thermobaric warhead on, given its launch platform.

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