Direct proof of use
The AGM-114 Hellfire family appears in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War through Ukrainian use of V2X Tempest mobile counter-UAS vehicles. TWZ reported on January 12, 2026 that Ukrainian Armed Forces footage and still imagery showed a U.S.-made Tempest vehicle with a launcher for AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, and that the footage showed a pair of Hellfire missiles being launched against Russian drones.
Business Insider reported two days later that a Ukrainian Air Command Central video featured a Tempest crew operator saying the crew had destroyed 21 Shahed drones. The same report described the buggy's dual launcher as fitted with missiles that appeared to be AGM-114 Hellfires and assessed the Longbow radar-guided variant as likely, while noting that the Ukrainian video itself did not specifically identify the missile type.
Sources: TWZ Hellfire-Armed Drone-Killing Buggy, Business Insider Tempest Hellfire Ukraine
Timeline
V2X publicly debuted Tempest at AUSA 2025 on October 13, 2025 as a rugged, commercially based Mobile Fires Platform with dual launchers and counter-UAS capability. That manufacturer release supports the vehicle concept and counter-UAS role, but not its transfer to Ukraine.
By January 2026, public reporting connected the platform to Ukrainian service. TWZ said the transfer had not been publicly announced and that earlier blurred footage from late 2025 had not allowed identification of the system. Business Insider reported that the Ukrainian Air Command-linked footage posted in January 2026 showed Tempest firing at night and that some clips had appeared in an earlier New Year's montage, indicating the vehicle was in Ukraine by December 2025.
Sources: V2X Tempest AUSA 2025, TWZ Hellfire-Armed Drone-Killing Buggy, Business Insider Tempest Hellfire Ukraine
Operational role
In Ukrainian service, the Hellfire family is documented here as a mobile air-defense interceptor rather than as its better-known helicopter, UAV, or anti-armor weapon. The Tempest vehicle placed Hellfire-class missiles on a light off-road chassis for short-notice counter-drone engagements against Russian Shahed/Geran-type one-way attack drones.
The most specific variant claim is an open-source assessment rather than an official Ukrainian naming. TWZ identified the armament as AGM-114 Hellfire and assessed it as the radar-guided AGM-114L Longbow version; Business Insider similarly described the Longbow variant as likely because it can home by radar in a fire-and-forget mode. The record therefore treats Ukrainian Hellfire use as source-backed, while keeping the precise AGM-114L identification attributed to specialist reporting.
Sources: TWZ Hellfire-Armed Drone-Killing Buggy, Business Insider Tempest Hellfire Ukraine
