Deadly Brimstone in Ukraine./Collage 24 channels
Brimstone is a high-tech, homing projectile capable of hitting static, moving and even maneuverable targets. As soon as the rocket leaves the launcher, it is no longer possible to escape from its impact.
A suitable missile does not need to be aimed at a target. It is enough for the operator to indicate the area where a potential enemy Buk, infantry fighting vehicle or even a tank is located, and then the missile will do everything itself.
Brimstone is already in Ukraine
The surgical accuracy of these missiles has proven itself in the wars in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq. Since April 2022, they have also been operating in Ukraine.
Universal missile system with an active radar homing head. And this means that having fixed the target, Brimstone will pursue it until it destroys it.
These missiles can play an important role in any war. Due to the low noise level and low thermal footprint, Brimstones are practically invisible to hostile air defense forces.
Such weapons were developed specifically for the British Royal Air Force by MBDA, a European manufacturer of missile systems with experience in creating more than 45 different missile systems. It is these that are in service with most European countries.
Help.The rocket weighs only 50 kilograms, is almost 2 meters long and 180 millimeters in diameter. At the same time, its speed reaches 450 meters per second, which allows Brimstone to penetrate any armor known today. One such launch kit has 3 missiles and costs from 263 thousand dollars.
Missile Advantage
In general, Brimstone was planned as anti-ship missiles, but over time they began to be tested for destruction and other purposes. For example, aircraft or armored vehicles.
The big advantage of such a missile system is that the launcher can be attached to existing weapons. That is, this is an additional modification that can increase the military arsenal.
The British, for example, attach such systems to their Tornado fighters. But in general they can be combined with:
- ships;
- boats;
- helicopters;
- armored vehicles;
- and even with normal auto.
Imagine that instead of machine guns, pickup trucks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had Brimstone rocket launchers. And this is not a fantasy, but a reality that allows you to modernize a seemingly ordinary pickup truck so much. But there are downsides.
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Brimstone range depending on modification: 20 or 60 km. However, this declared range is only valid for launches from an aircraft. If the rocket is launched from the ground, the range drops sharply to 10-12 km.
This is not enough to destroy enemy ships from the coast, but it is more than enough to work on ground armored vehicles.
Brimstone combat mode stages
It's important that the Brimstone missile doesn't need to see the target. This makes it a very effective projectile against ground targets. It is enough for the operator to know only the area where the enemy is located and enter which target needs to be eliminated. For each missile, the target can be defined individually.
In a matter of seconds, this projectile leaves the launcher, and then enters the combat mode, which consists of three stages.
- The first is the search for a target. The missile barrages in the air until it finds the specified target. For example, among the accumulation of enemy military equipment, you only need to destroy a tank of a certain type.
- Having identified the target, the missile proceeds to the second stage – capture. It fixes the position of the tank, and computer systems do not allow it to disappear from Brimstone's sight.
- In this case, wherever the tank moves, the missile will follow it, up to the third stage – destruction.
And this is an example of the operation of only three missiles.
The Brimstone missile does not need to see the target/Photo by MBDA
If you use several of these launchers at once, they merge into a swarm, turning Brimstone into a deadly hail of fire, in which each projectile will hit its target accurately. After all, this weapon was planned as a means against the accumulation of enemy vehicles.
Brimstone guarantees the destruction of armored vehicles
The missile can strike with surgical precision and, at the same time, cause little or no harm to foreign objects. This is a targeted strike that guarantees the destruction of any enemy armored vehicles.
In simple words – one missile – one target.
If the operator wants to be 100% sure of the defeat, he can program the Brimstone like this so that all three projectiles hit the same target one after the other. This is called a volley strike. And not a single armored vehicle that exists today is capable of surviving such an attack.
It is worth adding that specifically for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the British conducted additional tests of these missiles so that they could be used and combined with the systems we already have. Initially, they talked about attachment to different equipment.
There were fewer problems with computer software, because Brimstone have universal technical equipment, which allows them to be combined with a variety of systems that are also used in the Armed Forces.
Among the countries using Brimstone in their armed forces are not only the British, but also Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and more recently Ukraine.
