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Interest Grows In Dual-Mode Brimstone
The operational success the U.K. Royal Air Force has had with MBDAs dual-mode Brimstone is driving U.S. and French interest in the munition, says the RAFs assistant chief of the air staff, Air Vice Marshal Baz North.
The dual-mode weapon has been among the main munitions the RAF Tornado GR4 has been relying on during Libya operations.
The initial discussions with the French have begun, although they are at an early stage.
Still unclear is which French and U.S. platforms might launch the weapons. Dual-mode Brimstone is a Hellfire-class weapon, which should ease integration on new aircraft.
The dual-mode Brimstone has been used so heavily that inventory has become a concernthe weapon is modified out of a large existing stock of regular Brimstones. However, a senior NATO official notes that no missions have been scrapped owing to munitions shortages.
Although the dual-mode Brimstone has been well received, the U.K. for now has no plans to accelerate its fielding on the other U.K. fighter, the Eurofighter Typhoon. So far, the defense ministry has yet to award an integration contract for that weapon.
Interesting!
Interest Grows In Dual-Mode Brimstone | AVIATION WEEK
There were rumors about integrating Brimstone to Rafale as well (personally I hoped for Helina missiles), which would be an interesting addition. I have some doubts that the US will integrate them, because they will integrate the JAGM anyway, but it's interesting that the UK don't want to integrate the Brimstones to EF soon. That means that the A2G capabilities will remain limited for longer, if they will integrate it on the EF at all, or if they will do it on the F35, which seems to be more logical. Brimstone on EF would be limited to the air force only, but on F35 it could be used on the F35s of their carriers as well.