Where to find the Honey Bee in Mission 6

Mission 6 in The Phantom Pain is called "Where do the Bees Sleep" and the objective is to find and recover the US military's new weapon code-named Honey Bee. It's well hidden inside Smasei Fort to the north east of Afghanistan. In this walkthrough I'll guide you through the mission and point out the exact location of the Honey Bee weapon which can take a long time to find unaided.

Upon starting the mission, the first objective is to recover more intel on the exact location of the weapon. This can only be achieved by overtaking the Mountain Relay Base and Fultoning the captive back to Mother Base:

Mountain Relay Base - captive

Once he's captured, the exact location of the weapon is revealed on the map. Take note that the weapon appears at the back of Smasei Fort, hidden somewhere in the mountain region.

Next up, the trip from the Relay Station to the Fort can be difficult, largely due to the Gunship Helicopter that's patrolling the area, seemingly blocking any direct route along the road. However, you can still outrun the helicopter using D-Horse if you're quick enough.

After you've outrun helicopter, I found the best place to hide is between the road and the entrance to the fort. This is shown on the image below:

mountain ridge hiding place

This area is shielded on both sides and has narrow entrances at both ends. This prevents the chopper from hovering directly overhead and even if troops call for support it never comes too close. You can safely enter the Fort area and even retreat back to this area without dying. Just beware of the mortar attacks if you're discovered by troops - these will encroach on the edge of the fort entrance but no further.

Honey Bee Location

Ok, now you've made it to the Fort area the next task is to clear out the enemies inside. I'll leave the choice up to you whether you prefer deadly tactics or stealth and takedowns, but once the base has been captured, you should take some time to enjoy the wealth of resources and diamonds on offer here before heading to the back of the fort where the cave starts.

From here, follow these exact steps to locate the Honey Bee (this may not be the fastest route but it certainly works):

Video Guide

For those who prefer a video guide see below otherwise keep reading...

Step by Step

Walk up the steps.

steps leading upwards

Keep going until rubble blocks your way. Now turn left and walk up the slope to the next level

Hug the left hand wall and work your way upwards, follow the path and you should see two windows above:

two windows marker

Stay close to the left side, and follow the path up even higher. There will be a diamond on the floor here, pick it up. Continue climbing up and stay to the left. Cross the narrow path without falling and immediately on your left you'll see a blue bowl and a hole dropping down into a room.

Drop into the room, collect the resources and the diamond then go prone and crawl through the hole in the wall. You'll come out at a corridor, with several doors in front of you and a tunnel leading underground on your left.

Take the tunnel leading deeper underground, eventually opening up to a small lake area. The exact location of the tunnel entrance is shown on the image below:

tunnel map location

The lake is a great marker for finding the weapon, and you're almost near the end now. Walk through the water, steering left and take the far left hand side door. Follow the route inside in the far left hand door, staying close to the left side walls:

lake area underground

Walk through the room with candles burning and take the left hand side door to the final destination. The Honey Bee is located on the floor besides some bottles and what looks like a stack of materials. I've changed the brightness of the image so you can clearly see the room, but in-game this area is much darker than this: