The United States has recovered a missile that was accidentally sent to Cuba in 2014 after a logistical mixup in Europe, bringing an end to an unusual and sensitive episode in the world of defence.
The dummy training version of a US Hellfire missile was returned to the US with the “cooperation of the Cuban government”, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said on Saturday, declining to provide specifics.
“The re-establishment of diplomatic relations and the re-opening of our Embassy in Havana allow us to engage with the Cuban government on issues of mutual interest.”
Despite the recent thaw in US-Cuban relations, the loss of the missile – even the dummy version – raised the possibility that Havana could pass sensitive military technology on to rivals such as Russia or China.
However, the Hellfire missile, commonly fired at ground targets from a helicopter or a drone, has been in service since 1984, and has been delivered to more than two dozen countries.
Washington has treated the matter as a logistical mixup, although the US Justice Department is investigating.