Unrealizable potential: British Brimstone missiles for the Ukrainian army
Brimstone rocket one of the latest modifications
The British Ministry of Defense is going to transfer Brimstone guided missiles to Ukraine. In the near future, they plan to carry out all the necessary procedures, and in the first days of May, the missiles will go to the recipient. It is curious that the issue of the supply of such weapons was discussed earlier, but this did not produce any results. Now, apparently, the situation is changing, and Ukraine will be able to get the long-awaited missiles.
Agreements and plans
Back in October 2020, the military departments of Great Britain and Ukraine signed a memorandum on the development of cooperation in the military-technical sphere.
In June 2021, a similar document appeared with the signatures of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the British government and the British group of companies Babcock International. According to these agreements, the British side was to provide Kyiv with a loan and use these funds to build the combat boats it needed.
In October last year, some details of the deal appeared in the British media. It was reported that the parties are negotiating and plan to conclude an additional contract for the supply of MBDA Brimstone guided missiles in aviation and ship versions. However, the negotiations dragged on, and the contract has not yet been signed.
Recently, the topic of Brimstone missiles for Ukraine has again become relevant. On April 19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the British side was studying the possibility of transferring such weapons. In addition, possible ways of its deployment and application with different platforms are considered. At the same time, the Prime Minister did not provide specific data.
Regular holder with missiles
A few days later, on April 25, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace spoke in Parliament and confirmed the information from B. Johnson. The agency is indeed working on the future supply of Brimstone products. According to the Minister of Defense, now these missiles are proposed to be used as coastal-based anti-ship weapons.
The next day, Undersecretary of Defense James Hippie clarified the department's plans. Thus, the issue of the supply of missiles has already been resolved, and the first batch of such weapons is planned to be sent in the coming weeks. In the absence of difficulties, Ukraine will receive Brimstone products by May 10th. However, the number of missiles, modification, basing method and other details are not reported.
Multipurpose missile
The promising Brimstone rocket was developed in the mid-nineties by several European companies, which later became part of the current MBDA Missile Systems. The first goal of the project was to create an aircraft missile to destroy ground armored targets. Such a product appeared at the turn of the decades, and in the first half of the XNUMXs it was tested, after which it was adopted by the British Air Force.
In the future, the rocket went through several upgrades of various kinds, aimed at improving the performance characteristics. New guidance principles were introduced, flight characteristics were improved, etc. The possibility of using it on new media was also studied, incl. land and surface.
Brimstone missile on a fighter mount
The first customer for Brimstone missiles was the Royal Air Force - they purchased such weapons for their Tornado GR4 and Typhoon fighter-bombers. Since 2011, British aviation has repeatedly used new missiles during operations in Libya, Syria and Iraq. Also, aircraft missiles entered service with Germany and Saudi Arabia. Interest from other countries has been reported.
It is curious that only the original aviation version of the rocket and several of its improved modifications were brought to operation. The ground and ship versions of the missile system were proposed several years ago, but so far they have not progressed beyond testing.
Technical features
Brimstone is a multi-purpose guided missile capable of hitting armored vehicles and other ground targets. All variants of such a rocket are built in a cylindrical body 1,8 m long and 180 mm in diameter. Weight of products - 50 kg.
Rockets of all modifications are equipped with solid propellant engines that provide supersonic flight speeds up to 450 m/s. The basic version of the missile when launched from an aircraft has a range of at least 20 km. The Brimstone 2 modification received a different engine, with which it flies 60 km. The promising Brimstone 3 / SPEAR 3 project provides for an increase in range to 100 km.
UAV with missile weapons
All variants of Brimstone missiles are equipped with a tandem HEAT warhead. To destroy armored vehicles, a contact fuse is used, for other purposes - a remote fuse with a setting of the detonation range.
Initially, the Brimstone missile was equipped only with an active microwave homing radar and an inertial navigation system, due to which the “launch and forget” principle was implemented. At the end of the XNUMXs, a Dual-mode Brimstone modification was created, in which the ARGSN was supplemented with a laser head. This expanded combat capabilities, and also made it possible to maintain control over the missile throughout the flight.
In all subsequent modifications, only combined guidance means are used. At the same time, as the overall development of the family, new components are introduced and all the main characteristics grow.
The aviation version of the Brimstone missile is used by the Tornado and Typhoon aircraft. Integration to other fighter-bombers is possible. Experiments were also carried out with the AH-64E helicopter. In all cases, rockets are used with a triple holder.
For the Brimstone Sea Spear ship modification, a special launcher with six containers on a swivel-lift base has been developed. Depending on its dimensions and available space, a boat or ship may carry one or more of these installations. The guide package can also be used on ground platforms. In particular, a version of the missile system on a robotic chassis has already been demonstrated.
Missile system based on a boat
Objective problems
In general, MBDA Brimstone guided missiles are modern and successful weapons with fairly high performance. The technical and combat potential of the products of the family has been repeatedly demonstrated at training grounds and in real operations. In addition, new modifications of missiles are being developed with certain features that should affect the prospects for the family as a whole.
In the near future, Brimstone missiles should reach Ukraine. And it can be assumed that their supply will only benefit the UK, which will be able to master the allocated budget and support its industry. There is no real benefit for the Ukrainian side in this situation, and a number of objective factors hinder its receipt.
First of all, Ukraine will face the problem of carriers. Serial modifications of Brimstone are designed for military aviation, but the Ukrainian Air Force does not have compatible equipment. In the recent past, the issue of deploying missiles on boats planned for construction under new agreements was discussed. However, the Ukrainian Navy is actually destroyed, and the transfer of new surface combat units does not make sense.
The British Ministry of Defense leadership now mentions that the missiles will be placed on ground platforms, but does not specify on which ones. Moreover, serial samples of this kind are not yet available. At the same time, B. Johnson previously mentioned that Brimstone products can be placed on the so-called. technicals. It is obvious that such handicraft self-propelled missile systems have a very limited potential.
Brimstone on a robotic platform
One of the advantages of Brimstone missiles is their high range. However, its use requires appropriate means of illumination of the situation, detection of targets and target designation. Whether Ukraine can correctly organize the use of such weapons and realize their potential is a big question.
Brimstone products are proposed to be used as anti-ship weapons. The effectiveness of a missile in this role may be limited. A supersonic missile with a tandem warhead can pose a serious danger only to boats and small ships. A larger pennant after such a missile will need to be repaired, but will most likely keep its course and combat capability.
However, before causing damage to ground or surface targets, the "Ukrainian" missile will have to break through the defenses. High-precision weapons like Brimstone products are one of the main modern threats, and they were taken into account when creating modern air defense systems. Therefore, a successful breakthrough to the goal is not guaranteed.
Unrealizable potential
Thus, the situation around the British Brimstone guided missiles is somewhat similar to other episodes of foreign military assistance to Ukraine, but has its own characteristics. This time, unlike a number of previous cases, we are talking about modern weapons with high performance and good combat capabilities. However, the recipient will not be able to realize the full potential of such assistance due to objective problems and limitations.
However, the supply of British missiles should not be ignored. With all the problems, these weapons can pose a danger to our army and civilian facilities. Accordingly, the expected missile systems based on Brimstone products should be one of the primary targets for forceful demilitarization.
- Ryabov Kirill
- MBDA Missile Systems
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