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Cuba Returns “Wrong” Missile to USA

Cuba Returns “Wrong” Missile to USA
Cuba Returns “Wrong” Missile to USA

Cuba returned to the United States an inert Hellfire missile that had been wrongly shipped to Havana in June 2014.

The missile, which did not contain explosives, had been shipped to Spain for a NATO training exercise, The Wall Street Journal said.

It was then taken to Germany and eventually to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for onward delivery to Florida, BBC reported.

It was instead loaded on to an Air France flight to Havana. The incident could have led to a serious loss of military technology, officials said.

The whole affair has been embarrassing for the Americans who have had to ask the Cubans if they could have their highly sensitive missile back, says BBC’s Will Grant in Havana.

The missile arrived on a flight from Paris “by mistake or mishandling in the country of origin”, said a Cuban Foreign Ministry statement.

“Cuba acted with seriousness and transparency and cooperated to find a satisfactory solution to this issue,” it added.

The AGM 114 Hellfire is a laser-guided missile that can be deployed from an attack helicopter or an unmanned drone.

Financialtribune.com