UK confirms delivering of anti-ship and anti-armor Brimstone missiles to Ukraine.

During a video conference with the Ukrainian Parliament that was held on May 3, 2022, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the United Kingdom will deliver Brimstone anti-ship missiles to Ukraine in the coming weeks. Citing information from the British Defense Secretary, the United Kingdom will send the anti-ship variant of the Brimstone missile as well as a new version that will be used from the ground.
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The Brimstone Missile fitted to a Tornado GR4. This advanced radar-guided weapon is derived from the US Army Hellfire AGM-114F missile and is deployed in RAF service on a pylon-mounted launching rack that contains three missiles. (Picture source British MoD)

Citing information from the "Forces.net" website, recently, Ukraine has been asking for longer-range ground attack missiles and the British Government has been exploring if stocks of Brimstone could be released for such purposes.

Recently, Ukraine has been asking for longer-range ground attack missiles and the Government has been exploring if stocks of Brimstone could be released for such purposes.

In the beginning, the Brimstone was developed by MBDA UK to be used as a ground or air-launched ground attack missile. It was originally designed to destroy armor targets from air platforms as fighter aircraft. Using the Brimstone air-to-surface missile, MBDA also developed an anti-ship version called Brimstone Sea Spear which is an air- and surface-launched anti-ship missile designed to strike fast-moving, swarming inshore attack ships.

Currently, the Brimstone is operational on combat aircraft and helicopters but it can also be operated on a wide range of UAVs, land, and ship platforms. The system is capable of engaging line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight targets, with a choice of engagement modes using digital targeting data provided over standard secure military networks fully interoperable with NATO.

The anti-ship variant of the Brimstone missile is equipped with-a tandem shaped charge warhead effective against a wide variety of naval and land targets. The missile has the capability to engage and defeat multiple targets simultaneously. The Brimstone 2 has a maximum range of 60 km, a diameter of 180mm, and is equipped with a 6.3 kg warhead that explodes in stages.

In September 2020, Army Recognition reported that MBDA has developed a new concept of mobile tank destroyer armored vehicles using the Brimstone as an anti-tank missile mounted on tracked or wheeled armored vehicles.

According to drawing concept releases by MBDA showing armored vehicles fitted with the Brimstone, MBDA can integrate a launcher pod of eight ready-to-fire Brimstone anti-tank missiles on tracked armored vehicles or wheeled vehicles.

Artist drawing showing the concept of MBDA Brimstone anti-tank missile launcher pod mounted on a wheeled armored vehicle. (Picture source MBDA)