Brimstone proves a sure-fire success

Though designed at the end of the Cold War as an anti-tank weapon, optimised to stop large numbers of Soviet tanks on the North German plain, MBDA’s Brimstone missile has proved to be an extremely effective tool in modern, more asymmetric conflicts.

Its combination of almost surgical precision and small warhead size confers great lethality against the desired target, while imposing remarkably little risk of collateral damage.

Indeed, one of the most memorable images from the Libyan operation was video of a Brimstone taking out a rocket launcher mounted on the back of a Toyota land cruiser with the operator, who had been standing only a few feet from the vehicle, clearly visible running away after the blast.

In Afghanistan, Brimstone proved effective against moving motorcycles, individual Taliban sheltering in cover, and with enough accuracy to be able to fly through the rear windscreen of a pick-up truck.

The original Brimstone used an airframe derived from the US AGM-114F Hellfire missile, but with an all-new millimetric wave radar seeker that could autonomously search for targets, detecting and recognising priority goals and being able to distinguish between valid and non-valid targets, or to search for them only in a particular area.

The weapon was fitted with a tandem shaped charge warhead, allowing it to destroy the most modern armoured vehicle targets. A development and production contract was awarded in November 1996 and the weapon entered service with the RAF Tornado force in March 2005.

The so-called dual mode Brimstone (DMB) or dual mode seeker Brimstone (DMS Brimstone) was developed by MBDA in response to an RAF urgent operational requirement (UOR) issued in 2007. This called for a new precision-guided, low collateral damage weapon with a man-in-the-loop capability that would be able to defeat a wide range of static and fast moving targets, even under restrictive rules of engagement (ROE).

MBDA realised that the requirement could be met through an upgrade to the existing Brimstone capability by simply modifying the existing seeker – adding a sensitive semi-active laser (SAL) capability – while also adding revised software. This would allow the missile to operate in single mode or in a dual SAL/RF guidance mode, with all options selectable from the cockpit of the launch aircraft. The RAF had large stocks of the standard Brimstone missile left over from the original production contract.

DMS Brimstone proved a popular and highly effective weapon in both Afghanistan and Libya, and the original ‘legacy’ Brimstone also made its ‘used in combat’ debut in Libya. On September 15, a pair of No IX Squadron Tornados made an unprecedented salvo, firing of 24 Brimstone missiles against armoured vehicles near Sebha. The first aircraft salvoed six missiles, then the second launched all 12, before the lead aircraft fired six more.

Brimstone remained the RAF’s weapon of choice in Libya and its success has reportedly been sufficient to attract the interest of the UK’s two main allies in the conflict, the USA and France.

Though the French already operate the highly regarded W-AASM, which offers great precision, the weapon weighs almost five times as much as the Brimstone and it is ill-suited for use against urban targets where there is a real need to avoid collateral damage. It also does not have Brimstone’s ability to hit moving targets.

Reported US interest in Brimstone is superficially more puzzling, as the existing joint air-to-ground missile (JAGM) programme already promises to deliver a similar weapon to US forces.

A new-build Brimstone derivative has been selected to meet the UK ’s selective precision effects at range (SPEAR) capability 2 requirement and MBDA received a demonstration and manufacture (D&M) contract in March 2010. The new weapon will offer significantly improved performance and will introduce a new insensitive munition (IM) warhead and rocket motor, as well as a modular airframe.

The new IM subsystems will enhance the missile’s air carriage life and reduce logistics/support requirements, while the new airframe will give increased air carriage life, allow continued spiral development, facilitate the future insertion of new technologies and enhance compatibility with future platforms.