---
title: "CIA’s Bizarre “Ninja Bomb” Crushes Enemies Like a “Speeding Anvil”"
description: "The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIA developed a top-secret missile that can assassinate a single terrorist, and minimizes civilian casualties."
date: "2019-05-09"
modified: "2019-05-09"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/cia-pentagon-weapon-hellfire-r9x"
categories:
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "cia"
  - "missile"
  - "Pentagon"
  - "syria"
  - "syrian war"
---

# CIA’s Bizarre “Ninja Bomb” Crushes Enemies Like a “Speeding Anvil”

![The Wall Street Journal reports that the CIA developed a top-secret missile that can assassinate a single terrorist, and minimizes civilian casualties.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cia-pentagon-weapon-hellfire-r9x1.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Nintendo/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Ninja Bomb

The *Wall Street Journal* [reports that](<https://www.wsj.com/articles/secret-u-s-missile-aims-to-kill-only-terrorists-not-nearby-civilians-11557403411>) the CIA and the Pentagon have developed a top-secret missile designed to assassinate a single terrorist by crushing them or slicing them up with sword-like protrusions instead of exploding.

The weapon, which officials have dubbed a "Ninja Bomb," can even target individuals in cars and inside buildings. The promise: reduced civilian deaths — and a deadly new precision weapon in the military's arsenal.

## Speeding Anvil

The weapon is at its base a Hellfire missile — a 100 pound, five-foot air-to-ground weapon used by U.S. armed forces.

But rather than exploding, the R9X missile can smash its way through anything in its path "as if a speeding anvil fell from the sky," officials told the *Wall Street Journal*.

## Killer Precision

Things get even more outrageous: six blades deploy out of the sides of the Ninja Bomb just as it hits to maximize its destruction. The hidden blades even earned it a nickname: "the flying Ginsu," a nod to popular kitchen knives sold on TV in the 80s.

The weapon, in development since at least 2011, was even considered as a "Plan B" to kill Osama bin Laden in his Pakistan compound, the *Wall Street Journal* reports. The R9X was also reportedly used to kill high-ranking al Qaeda operatives in Syria.

Both the CIA and Pentagon declined to comment on the weapon to the *Wall Street Journal*.

**READ MORE:** [Secret U.S. Missile Aims to Kill Only Terrorists, Not Nearby Civilians](<https://www.wsj.com/articles/secret-u-s-missile-aims-to-kill-only-terrorists-not-nearby-civilians-11557403411>) \[*Wall Street Journal*\]

**More on modern weapons:** *[The Air Force Just Tested a Laser Weapon for Fighter Jets](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/air-force-tested-laser-weapon-fighter-jets>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)