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Europe
Serbian authorities find Hellfire missiles -- inbound for Portland
2016-03-14
As loyal reader Deacon Blues titled it in a similar post, "Hellfire and Damnation"...
BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbia's authorities are investigating reports that a cargo package bound for Portland contained two missiles with explosive warheads on a passenger flight from Lebanon.
Not sure if that's Portland Maine, Portland Oregon, or some other Portland...
Source is Oregon Live, so I'd say it's Oregon.
N1 television said the package with two guided armor-piercing missiles was discovered Saturday by a sniffer dog after an Air Serbia flight from Beirut landed at a Belgrade airport.

Serbian media say documents listed the final destination for the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles as Portland. The Serbian state news agency Tanjug reported that the missiles had been packed in wooden coffins and unloaded at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, where they were inspected by bomb-sniffing dogs.

This type of missile was originally designed to be fired from a helicopter and was named Helicopter Launched, Fire and Forget Missile -- later shortened to Hellfire. The American-made projectiles can be fired from air, sea or ground platforms against multiple targets.

The AGM-114 model is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrup Grumman. It weighs about 100 pounds and costs about $110,000 apiece. Most models use laser to home in on their targets, although one version of the AGM-114 relies on radar.

The FBI in Portland said it is looking into the reports.

"We don't have any information on that yet," Jennifer Adams, an FBI spokeswoman, said Sunday afternoon.
"We will say no more!"
N1 reported Sunday that Air Serbia is helping in the investigation. The Serbian flag carrier says "security and safety are the main priorities for Air Serbia."
An Nahar adds:
Serbian media said documents listed the final destination for the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles as Portland, Oregon.
Posted by:Steve White

#7  Oh, you conspiracy nuts!
These were just training units, like were shipped to Cuba!

(maybe to prefab the mount brackets, Glenmore)
Posted by: Skidmark   2016-03-14 11:53  

#6  So, we've given the Lebanese Hellfires for their Cesna Caravans and Super Turcanos (assuming they get delivered one of these days). So I guess the question is, is this common Arabic corruption, or is someone in the Lebanese Air Force playing footsie with a terror group with people in place in the States? Hrm. Portland is apparently host to fairly large Lebanese and Syrian community - not Dearborn or Toledo big, but good-sized.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2016-03-14 11:47  

#5  Skidmark, Maybe they have a helicopter to mount it on? Or a Cessna they can rig up a mount for?
Posted by: Glenmore   2016-03-14 10:33  

#4  Why ship the entire missile? Why not extract the blowuppy parts?
Posted by: Skidmark   2016-03-14 08:45  

#3  SteveS - Hellfires are not strong enough to do more than chip the concrete on the big Oregon dams.
Posted by: Glenmore   2016-03-14 08:30  

#2  I doubt this is the only one.
Posted by: Newc   2016-03-14 00:47  

#1  Oregon, eh? Maybe somebody is looking to blow up a dam.
Posted by: SteveS   2016-03-14 00:38  

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