Missiles on Lebanon-Serbia flight are for training purposes-LAF Command

The Lebanese Armed Forces Command issued on Monday a statement whereby it noted that the missiles found by Serbian authorities on a flight coming from Beirut are training missiles used by the Lebanese army and were being sent back to the United States.

The statement added that the Lebanese and U.S. authorities were aware of the shipment and the missiles posed no threat to the public.

Serbian authorities have found two U.S.-made guided Hellfire missiles inside wooden crates at Belgrade airport bound for Portland, Oregon, in the United States and are investigating them, a source at the prosecutor's office said earlier on Monday.

The missiles had arrived on an Air Serbia flight from Beirut and had been due to be transferred to another plane. They were discovered by bomb-sniffing dogs at Belgrade airport on Saturday, the source said.

"Experts are determining whether the missiles were equipped with live or training warheads ... They were packed in proper transportation crates and supplied with paperwork which is also being scrutinized," the source said.

The AGM 114 Hellfire, produced by Lockheed Martin, is an air-to-surface missile (ASM) which can be used against armored vehicles and tanks, but also for precision strikes
against other targets.

In addition to a version with a high-explosive warhead, the Hellfire is also produced as a practice weapon with a spotting charge instead of a warhead or with an inert rocket motor and warhead.

 

LBCI/REUTERS