The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has signed a £400 million
deal to launch battle-winning Brimstone missiles from RAF
Typhoon jets, Defence Secretary has announced.
The ultra-accurate Brimstone already has a successful track
record, playing a critical role from Tornado fighter jets
in the fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, and the deal
will now see the missile upgraded to become compatible with
Typhoons.
The £400 million Brimstone 2 Capability Sustainment
Programme with MBDA UK will also build new equipment to
support the capability and develop a stockpile of weapons
available for operations, creating around 130 brand new
jobs and sustaining hundreds more across the country.
Defence Secretary said:
Our world-class defence industry is a key foundation on
which our great military is built, and the weapons it
produces like the pinpoint Brimstone missiles have been
crucial in helping our fighter pilots on missions such as
driving down Daesh territory in the Middle East. This
massive £400m investment is a huge boost to the proud
workforce equipping our Armed Forces and will create and
protect hundreds of jobs across the country, bolstering
both the power of the Typhoon jet and British prosperity.
The new variation is being developed through the Brimstone
2 Capability Sustainment Programme will replace all earlier
variants in 2022 and have an upgraded seeker, rocket motor,
warhead and guidance system, making it an even more
effective weapon.
The new missile will arm Typhoon when it takes over as the
RAF’s principal ground-attack aircraft in 2019.
The work has created around 130 new jobs and sustains a
further 270 existing jobs at MBDA’s sites in Stevenage,
Bolton and across the company’s significant UK supply
chain.
Brimstone is currently in use by the UK’s Tornado squadrons
in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation Shader and has also
been used on operations in Afghanistan and Libya.
Chief of Material Land at the MOD’s procurement
organisation, Lieutenant General Paul Jaques said:
The Brimstone 2 CSP contract enables us to continue to
deliver a world class air to surface missile in support
of the RAF’s Typhoon Squadrons on operations worldwide.
It is excellent news not only for our troops but also for
the UK economy, with jobs and skills being sustained
across the country.
The programme will also allow the weapon to be further
developed for use on future aircraft. Brimstone is among
weapons being considered for use by the British Army’s new
AH-64E Apache attack helicopters and the RAF’s
next-generation Protector unmanned aerial system.
