Brimstone Sea Spear provides a unique and unrivalled all weather, rapid anti-swarming FIAC capability weapon, offering the naval operator the option of engaging a wide range of target types, including fast moving individual targets in cluttered environments, in both direct and indirect fire modes. Brimstone Sea Spear is the latest member of the proven Brimstone Weapon System family; building upon the successful deployment of Brimstone into front line operations with the RAF. Operationally deployed in the Afghanistan and Libya conflicts, Brimstone has proved to be the weapon of choice with its unique ability to perform both surgical strikes and salvo engagements in time critical missions with a true day/night capability.
Brimstone Sea Spear has been designed to be modular and can be integrated to a wide variety of vessel types/classes.
– The same missile can be used from fixed wing and naval platforms, minimising logistic support infrastructure
– Brimstone Sea Spear is a modular, flexible system adaptable to a wide variety of existing ship system configurations
– The system is user friendly with mode selections via a touch screen control panel
– The system is fire and forget and in salvo operation can rapidly cope with both swarms of targets and individual target(s) situations
MBDA has started testing a maritime variant for use against swarms of small boats named Sea SPEAR. On 29 May 2013, MBDA conducted a salvo firing of three millimetric wave operational Brimstone missiles, launched from a fixed offshore platform, against a simulated attack formation of five targets representing FIACs (Fast Inshore attack Craft). The successful test firing demonstrated Sea SPEAR’s ability to strike numerous individual targets. During the test one of the targets, a 15-metre craft, was travelling at 20 knots. MBDA pitted Sea SPEAR against the Raytheon Sea Griffin missile for integration onto American Littoral combat ships. The US Navy instead selected the AGM-114L Hellfire as a stop-gap missile for the LCS.
Brimstone is an air-launched ground attack missile developed by MBDA UK for Britain’s Royal Air Force. It was originally intended for “fire-and-forget” use against mass formations of enemy armour, using a millimetric wave (mmW) active radar homing seeker to ensure accuracy even against moving targets. Experience in Afghanistan led to the addition of laser guidance in the dual-mode Brimstone missile, allowing a “spotter” to pick out specific and the highest priority targets, particularly useful to minimise collateral damage when friendly forces were in the area. The tandem shaped charge warhead is much more effective against modern tanks than older similar weapons such as the AGM-65G Maverick.
