Cuba returns Lockheed-built Hellfire missile to the US

Cuba has reportedly returned an inactive Hellfire missile that had been wrongly shipped from the US to Havana in June 2014.

The dummy training version of AGM 114 Hellfire missile was received by the US Federal Government in Florida on Saturday following several months of requests, reported The Wall Street Journal.

US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner was quoted by media sources as saying: "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."

The shipping error was reported to have occurred with Lockheed Martin's freight forwarders, and the US government has been trying to get back the missile that that was probably used by Nato during training exercises in Europe.

The Cuban government had confirmed the discovery of the air-to-ground missile during a routine inspection of flight cargo from Paris.

The missile is now being held at a military warehouse run by military technology company Lockheed Martin.

The Hellfire missile system is a 100lb class air-to-ground precision weapon delivering multi-target capability and precision strike lethality.

It is currently being used by the US and 16 other nations.