Hellfire missiles approved for Egypt

Egypt has been approved by the U.S. State Department for purchase of more than 300 Hellfire missiles through the Foreign Military Sales program.

The 356 AGM-114K/R3 Hellfire II Air-to-Ground missiles, together with associated equipment and support, would be worth an estimated $57 million, according to the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which notified Congress of the possible sale.

"Egypt will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense," the agency said. "While this potential sale would be the first transfer of the R variant of this missile to Egypt, Egypt already has the F and K variants in its inventory and will have no difficulty absorbing these additional missiles."

The R variant of the air-to-ground weapon has a range of more than 8,700 yards and is suitable for use against bunkers, caves, light vehicles and urban targets.

DSCA said the principal contractor would be Lockheed Martin and that the proposed sale would not require the assignment of U.S. government or contractor personnel to Egypt.