Soon after the missile was introduced into service, it attracted the attention of the Swedish Coast Artillery Forces, which were seeking a short-range, anti-ship missile specifically for use against landing craft and smaller warships. In 1984, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration placed a contract to adapt Hellfire for the coastal defence anti-ship role. A production contract was placed in 1987 and the system entered service in Sweden as RBS-17. The anti-ship missile with its special to type blast/fragmentation, delayed action warhead is also used in the air-to-surface role.
AGM-114 Hellfire missiles entered service in 1985 and are in operational use with the US Army and US Marine Corps. Production is expected to continue until 2005, and an estimated total of 65,000 missiles will be built. A development contract was awarded in March 1990 for AGM-114K Hellfire 2, with a US Army production order of 8,578 missiles planned and first deliveries in 1997. Over 10,000 AGM-114L missiles have been ordered by the US Army, and by October 1999 1,000 of these had been delivered. Around 110 Hellfire 2 missiles have been tested, with 107 reported as successful. The US Army ordered 100 AGM-114K anti-ship version missiles in 1998, and 84 AGM-114M missiles were ordered by Turkey in 2000. The first trial firing of an active MMW radar-guided AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire 2 missile was carried out in early 1994, this version was developed for the AH-64D Longbow Apache helicopter. Low rate initial production was authorised in December 1995 and the Longbow Hellfire 2 entered service in 1998.
An export order to Sweden was announced in 1987 for a coastal defence variant, known in Sweden as RBS-17 and Norway placed an order for similar missiles in 1994. Export orders for air-launched Hellfire missiles have been reported to Canada, Egypt, Greece, Israel, South Korea, Kuwait, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey and UAE.