New Delhi: When Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by US forces in a drone strike in Afghanistan capital Kabul, the development was watched keenly in India.

For, New Delhi has been negotiating with Washington for the sale of similar drones — Predator — that can launch the Hellfire missile, which was used to kill Zawahiri. The Ministry of Defence is processing a case to get 30 such drones, 10 each for the Navy, Air Force and the Army.

Pictures from the Kabul home where Zawahiri was killed showed no signs of an explosion, pointing to the use of the secret weapon called the ‘Hellfire R9X’. The weapon has no explosive warhead, but deploys six blades, which fly in at high speed, crushing and slicing the targeted person.

Officially, the US Department of Defence or the CIA have never acknowledged the use of the ‘Hellfire R9X’.

The Hellfire missile has several variants. The ‘R9X’ variant is deployed to target a terrorist without damage to civilians, which a conventional missile won’t do on exploding.

As per available data, the ‘Hellfire R9X’ is a little more than five feet long and weighs just over 100 pounds and doesn’t leave behind any signs such as burnt-out shells or mangled marks. The weapon was used earlier too when US forces targeted Qaida-linked trainer in Syria in 2020. The weapon was used four to five times.