Cuba Returns AWOL Missile to the USA

“We can say without speaking to specifics that the inert training missile has been returned with the cooperation of the Cuban government”, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement. It’s still unclear how the missile was rerouted, but it has functioned a source of major embarrassment for the USA, which has been compounded by the refusal of Cuba to return the missile, at least until now.

But officials had feared former Cold War foe Cuba could share the remaining technology with potential US adversaries like North Korea or Russian Federation.

The Hellfire is an air-to-ground anti-tank missile, one of the primary weapons deployed by United States drones.

As the USA government made an official explanation to Havana and requested the missile’s return, Cuba chose to initiate talks to return it, the declaration said.

The US officials confirmed the delivery, saying that the recent diplomatic thaw between the two countries allowed Washington to engage with Havana “on issues of mutual interest”.

A team of experts from the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the missile, traveled to the island to check its condition and on Saturday returned to the United States with the missile.

Once the mission was completed, it was sent through Spain, Germany and France where it was loaded onto an Air France aircraft at Charles De Gaulle airport.

The US Justice Department is still investigating the shipping incident, which only became public after the Wall Street Journal reported on it last month.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry acknowledged the missile had been sent in error and said: “Cuba acted with seriousness and transparency and co-operated to find a satisfactory solution to this issue”.

What do you think about the US State Department losing a $65,000 training Hellfire missile in Cuba?

The missile is now being held at a military warehouse run by military technology company Lockheed Martin, the producer of the Hellfire missile.