Procurement: Racks of Hellfire

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December 15, 2007: The U.S. Army has bought 430 M299 helicopter missile racks, for $120,000 each. Introduced in 1994, each one of these racks holds four Hellfire missiles, or sixteen 70mm DAGR guided markets (these are guided versions of the venerable 70mm unguided rockets). Alternatively, each rack can hold eight DAGRs and two Hellfires. The racks can be used on the AH-64, AH-1Z, Tiger or the SH-60B helicopters. Each rack weighs 145 pounds. Loaded with four Hellfires, the rack weighs 541 pounds. Attack helicopters usually carry two of these racks. Of this order, 38 racks are going to foreign customers.