LM sells more Hellfire IIs to Greece

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin said Tuesday it would sell more Hellfire laser-guided missiles to Greece for use on AH-64 helicopters.

"The governments of Greece and the United States have signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the sale of additional Lockheed Martin precision-strike laser-guided Hellfire II missiles to Greece. The agreement authorizes the sale of multiple warhead variants of the modular Hellfire II, with options, for the Hellenic Army’s AH-64 Apache and the Hellenic Navy’s SH-60B Seahawk helicopters. Contract value and deliverables were not disclosed," Lockheed Martin said in a statement.

“We are honored that the Hellenic Army and Navy have once again selected Hellfire II missiles to equip their Apache and Seahawk fleets in defense of their borders,” said Ken Musculus, Lockheed Martin Air-to-Ground Missile Systems program director.

“We look forward to supporting the Hellenic Forces in their initiative to expand their Hellfire warhead inventory for multi-mission capability. Hellfire II currently offers three warhead variants to engage a broad target set, while minimizing collateral damage,” Musculus said.

Lockheed Martin said the three modular Hellfire II semi-active laser warhead variations were: "the High-Explosive Anti-Tank -- HEAT -- missile, which defeats all known and projected armored threats; the blast fragmentation missile, which defeats “soft” targets such as boats, buildings, bunkers and light-armored vehicles; and the metal augmented charge missile" for use against enclosures, caves and enemy personnel in them.

Lockheed Martin said Greece was buying the Hellfire II missiles through a foreign military sale contract. "This purchase employs economy of scale, taking advantage of a large buy of Hellfire missiles from Lockheed Martin by the U.S. Army to reduce cost for both users. With more than 20,000 rounds delivered, Hellfire II is approved for international sales, via government-to-government or direct commercial sales," the company said.

Lockheed Martin said Hellfire II was launched from a wide array of platforms, including the U.S. Army’s Apache and Kiowa Warrior helicopters; the U.S. Marine Corps’ Cobra; the U.S. Navy’s Seahawk helicopter; (Britain)'s Apache attack helicopter; the Eurocopter Tiger and the U.S. Air Force’s Predator unmanned aerial vehicle."