Brimstone (missile)

Brimstone is an air-launched ground attack missile developed by MBDA for Britain's Royal Air Force. It was originally intended for "fire and forget" use against mass formations of enemy armour, using a millimetre wave (mmW) seeker to ensure accuracy even against moving targets. Experience in Afghanistan led to the addition of laser guidance in the dual-mode Brimstone missile, allowing a "man in the loop" to pick out specific targets when friendly forces or civilians were in the area. The Tandem Shaped charge warhead is much more effective against modern tanks than similar weapons such as the AGM-65G Maverick, whilst the small blast area minimises collateral damage. Three Brimstones are carried on a launcher that occupies a single weapon station, allowing a single aircraft to carry many missiles.

After a protracted development programme, single-mode or "millimetric" Brimstone entered service with RAF Tornados in 2005, and the dual-mode variant in 2008. The latter has been extensively used in Afghanistan and Libya. An improved Brimstone 2 will enter service in late 2013 and MBDA are working on the targeting of swarms of small boats under the name Sea Spear. The RAF are waiting for funding to fit Brimstone to their Eurofighter Typhoons and planned to integrate it with their Harriers until they were withdrawn from service in 2010. MBDA are studying the use of Brimstone on ships, attack helicopters, UAVs and from surface launchers; it will be integrated on the F-35 Lightning II when the F-35 enters British service. The US, France and India have expressed interest in buying Brimstone for their aircraft but Saudi Arabia is the only export customer to date.

Overview
The missile was originally supposed to be an evolution of the original laser Hellfire, with the laser seeker replaced by a millimetre wave (mmW) seeker. During development, virtually the entire missile was redesigned, resulting in a weapon that - other than the external shape - bears no relation to the original airframe. It is unrelated to the separate development of the mmW Hellfire for the Longbow Apache. The missile airframe is developed from Lockheed's AGM-114 Hellfire, but Brimstone is an all-new design with its own motor, warhead and seeker.

Brimstone has a Tandem Shaped Charge (TSC) warhead that employs a smaller initial charge, designed to initiate reactive armor, followed by a larger, more destructive charge, designed to penetrate and defeat the base armour. It has been estimated that Brimstone will be 3 times more effective than the AGM-65G Maverick missile against modern tanks, and 7 times more effective than the BL755 cluster bomb. In combat Brimstone has demonstrated accuracy and reliability "both well above 90 percent" according to the MoD; Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton has said that 98.3% to 98.7% of Brimstone fired in Libya "did exactly what we expected".

Targeting and sensors
Brimstone is a "fire and forget" missile, which is loaded with targeting data by the Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) prior to launch. Technically, it is programmable to adapt to particular mission requirements. This capability includes essentially the ability to find targets within a certain area (such as those near friendly forces), and to self-destruct if it is unable to find a target within the designated area. This information is provided to the munition by the WSO from RAF ASTOR, USAF JSTARS aircraft or local troops.

In addition to the semi-autonomous ability to decide its own targets, the Brimstone has the capacity to determine where on a target to best impact causing the most damage or resulting in elimination of the target. The missile's advanced sensor package includes its extremely high frequency millimetric wave radar, which allows the weapon to image the target and hence choose a target location. The bandwidth of the MMW radar also makes it less susceptible to inclement weather. With as many as twenty-four missiles in the air, the missile's targeting system also required an algorithm to ensure that missiles hit their targets in a staggered order, rather than all simultaneously.

Launch system
Each launch system incorporates three rails, i.e. one system carries three missiles. This allows a single aircraft to carry large numbers of missiles, for example a Typhoon could carry up to six launch systems on six individual pylons, which gives a maximum payload of eighteen Brimstone missiles, in addition to a useful air-to-air payload. The missile is carried by the Tornado GR4 in RAF service. , integration on the Eurofighter Typhoon is planned but not yet funded; the Daily Telegraph reported that Brimstone on Typhoon would be funded in PR12 (the 2012-13 budget) but this has not yet been confirmed. MBDA are studying the use of Brimstone on attack helicopters, UAVs and from surface launchers; it will be integrated with the F-35 Lightning II when it enters British service. Both the US and France have expressed interest in buying it for their aircraft.

It was intended that Brimstone would be integrated on the RAF Harrier fleet under Capability D of the JUMP programme with a scheduled in-service date of 2009. A Harrier GR9 first flew with 12 Brimstone on 14 February 2007, and the RAF released video of a Tornado (incorrectly reported as a Harrier) using a Dual Mode Brimstone against an Afghan insurgent in 2008. In late 2009 Brimstone was "nearing completion for integration on the Harrier" but in July 2010 it was reported that Brimstone on the Harrier would be postponed until the insensitive-munition version of the missile became available in 2012. Brimstone had not been officially cleared for use on the type when the UK Harriers were withdrawn from service in late 2010.

Development
The missile was designed to meet the RAF's requirement for a long range anti-armour weapon, allowing strike aircraft to attack tanks and armoured vehicles at stand-off range, replacing the BL755 cluster bomb. This requirement was issued following an assessment of the British military's performance in the Gulf War. GEC-Marconi (whose missile interests now form part of MBDA) was originally awarded the contract on 7 November 1996.

The programme ended up nearly 3 years late. The first ground firing of the Brimstone missile occurred in August 1999, followed by the first air-launched firing Tornado GR4 in September 2000. Clearance of the missile was delayed by 12 months due to the unavailability of a Tornado trials aircraft, as the RAF chose instead to rush the development of the Storm Shadow ahead of the Iraq war, but another delay of 6 months was due to the missile hitting the aircraft as it was released. Over 2000 missiles were produced.

The original Brimstone could not be used in Afghanistan as the Rules of engagement required a "man-in-the-loop". Under an Urgent Operational Requirement in 2008, modifications were made to the seeker and software of over 300 existing missiles to create Dual-Mode Brimstone. The new missiles can be laser guided according to the STANAG 3733 standard as well as retaining the millimetre wave seeker; the pilot can select either mode from the cockpit or use both simultaneously. Laser guidance allows specific enemy targets to be picked out in cluttered environments, the mmW radar ensures accuracy against moving targets.

The development and procurement of the original single-mode missiles cost £370m, a figure inflated by accounting charges relating to the delays. The development of the dual-mode version cost an additional £10m. The Daily Telegraph reports that the dual mode missiles cost £105,000 (~US$170,000), which is comparable to the cost of the AGM-65 Maverick; the MoD quote only a gross book value of £175,000, which includes development costs as well as the purchase cost of the missile. Upgrading a single-mode missile to dual mode costs between £35,000 and £45,000 plus VAT, depending on quantities ordered.

In March 2010 Brimstone was selected as the basis for the RAF's requirement under the Selective Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) Capability 2 Block 1 programme. The Demonstration and Manufacture (D&M) contract will increase the missile's performance "significantly", and convert the warhead and rocket motor to use insensitive munitions. Brimstone 2 will have an improved seeker, a more modular design and improvements to airframe and software for "an overall increase in performance with improvements in range and engagement footprint". It is expected to enter service in late 2013. At the same time MBDA were awarded an Assessment Phase contract for SPEAR Capability 3 (formerly SPEAR Drop 2). This requires a 75 mi range missile with a 100 kg warhead to be integrated onto the F-35 Lightning II. Spear 3 may use some modules from Brimstone, and will have flight trials by 2014.

MBDA have started testing a maritime variant called Brimstone Sea Spear for use against swarms of small boats. On 25 June 2012 a Tornado GR4 dropped a prototype that hit and sank a 6-metre inflatable boat travelling at 20kts in Sea State 3. The following month MBDA said that a viable system could be offered "within months"; the initial focus is on deployment from fast jets and surface launchers, MBDA are marketing it in the Gulf for installation on vessels down to 15m. On 29th May 2013, MBDA conducted a salvo firing of three millimetric wave operational Brimstone missiles, launched from a fixed offshore platform, against a simulated attack formation of five targets representing FIACs (Fast Inshore attack Craft). The successful test firing demonstrated Brimstone Sea Spear’s ability to strike numerous individual targets. During the test one of the targets, a 15m craft, was travelling at 20 knots. The Sea Spear may compete with the Raytheon Sea Griffin missile for integration onto American Littoral Combat Ships.

Royal Air Force
In March 2005, Brimstone entered service with No. 31 Squadron RAF. Full Operational Capability (FOC) was declared for the Tornado GR4 in December 2005 The first operational sortie of dual-mode Brimstone was over Iraq as part of Operation TELIC on 18 December 2008 by a Tornado GR4 of IX(B) Squadron. It was first fired in combat in June 2009, the month that the Tornado GR4's of 12 Squadron arrived in Afghanistan as part of Operation HERRICK.

Brimstone was used extensively during Operation ELLAMY over Libya in 2011. According to a British Ministry of Defence News report, dated 26 March 2011, RAF Tornado GR4 aircraft launched several Brimstone missiles over the towns of Misrata and Ajdabiya destroying a total of five armoured vehicles belonging to the Gaddafi regime. Sixty Brimstone were fired in the first four weeks of the Libya campaign, out of 110 Brimstone fired in all operations up to that time. This prompted the MoD to ask MBDA to convert more missiles to the dual-mode version. 150 dual-mode missiles had been ordered in December 2010, but according to the Royal United Services Institute, stocks of usable dual-mode missiles fell to single figures at one stage of the Libya campaign. The 500th dual-mode Brimstone was delivered in March 2012, at which time over 200 had been fired in combat. The single-mode missile was not fired in combat until 15 September 2011 when a pair of RAF Tornado GR4 of IX(B) Squadron fired 22 missiles (including a salvo of 12 by one aircraft) against an armoured column near Sebha/Sabha, 400 miles south of Tripoli.

Export sales
Around £10 million of Brimstones from the RAF stock were sold to the Royal Saudi Air Force for use on their Tornados. In April 2011, the RAF's Assistant Chief of the Air Staff Air Vice Marshal Baz North reported that the missiles were "being sought by both the United States of America and the French" in the light of Brimstone's success in Libya. France's DGA procurement agency held meetings in late May 2011 to discuss a lightweight air-to-surface weapon for the Dassault Rafale; Stéphane Reb of the DGA would merely say that "Brimstone is a solution, but it's not the only option". The French Air Force were still thinking about a purchase in March 2012, with a prime consideration being lower collateral damage compared to the AASM. India has made a request for information about integrating Brimstone on their Sukhoi Su-30MKI fleet.

Operators

 * Royal Saudi Air Force
 * Royal Saudi Air Force


 * Royal Air Force
 * Royal Air Force