MBDA has received a contract from Germany to manufacture and supply Brimstone 3 precision strike missiles for the Bundeswehr’s Eurofighter combat aircraft. 

According to a relevant announcement, a final assembly line and a service centre for Brimstone will be set up at MBDA’s Schrobenhausen site for this purpose.

The Eurofighter can carry 12 Brimstone missiles on four launcher packs of three missiles each.

Brimstone’s specifications:

• Weight: 50 kg
• Length: 1.8 m
• Range: unknown for variant 3, but estimated at 60 km from fixed-wing aircraft
• Diameter: 180 mm
• Guidance: Millimetric wave radar and semi-active laser
• Warhead: Tandem-shaped charge
• Mode of operation: Semi-Active Laser (SAL) guidance to engage static targets with limited or no radar cross section (RCS) / Both SAL and Millimetric Wave radar guidance for fast-moving targets / Fire-and-forget simultaneous target engagement
• Top attack and salvo

The procurement of Brimstone 3 by Germany is a decisive contribution to the harmonisation of armaments in Europe and the Bundeswehr’s ammunition stockpile. The new production line is the first of its kind outside the UK and demonstrates the value of the MBDA cooperation model in ensuring the supply of critical European defence capabilities.

Brimstone, operationally deployed in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq and Ukraine, has proven to be quite effective.

Also read: EUROSATORY 2024 | Missile Artillery Solutions from MBDA

The missile system enables the user to hit stationary and fast-moving targets with pinpoint accuracy being integrated onto unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Eurodrone and MQ-9B, while it is a suitable armament option for land vehicles, helicopters and heavy remote carriers.

The Brimstone 3 will also be integrated into the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) fleet of MQ-9B Protector UAVs, whose UAVs are also based at the Akrotiri base in Cyprus, gradually replacing the Brimstone 2 missiles.

In the following article, you may be informed on additional platforms – carriers of Brimstone such as Rheinmetall’s Brimstone missile-armed Mission Master XT autonomous UGV (A-UGV).

Also read: DSEI 2021 | Debut for Rheinmetall’s Brimstone missile-armed Mission Master XT

With information from: MBDA, DEFENCE ReDEFiNED