Stiletto Stiletto A stiletto () is a knife or dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, primarily intended as a stabbing weapon. The stiletto blade's narrow cross-section and acuminated tip reduces friction upon entry, allowing the blade to penetrate deeply. Some consider the stiletto a form of dagger, but most stilettos are specialized thrusting weapons not designed for cutting or slashing, even with edged examples. Over time, the term "stiletto" has been used as a general descriptive term for a variety of knife blades exhibiting a narrow blade with minimal cutting surfaces and a needle-like point, such as the
M80 Stiletto Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment 3 (IRVE-3) test article with 3 m (9.8 ft) diameter heat shield which splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina after being launched on July 23 by a sounding rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The Stiletto is referenced as a maritime demonstration craft operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock, Combatant Craft Division, and based at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Ft Story, Va. The UK is testing ISR packages compatible with the RQ-20A Puma hand-launched UAV on board the "Stiletto" in November 2014 under Capability Demonstration 15-1. M80 Stiletto The M80 Stiletto