New tallybunny burner

[tankie]

The Ministry of Defence has released the first cockpit footage of a new precision missile which can kill a Taliban fighter with such a small explosion that nearby civilians are unharmed.

The Dual Mode Brimstone guided missile is shown blasting a gunman who has dug himself a firing position or 'murder hole' in the base of a thick mud walled compound in the heart of a village in Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

Whereas the 1,000lb bombs commonly used in such air strikes would have flattened the settlement and could have killed dozens of people, the Brimstone's warhead kills the enemy gunman while barely damaging the rest of the compound, and the surrounding streets are untouched.

The Dual Mode Brimstone guided missile blasts a gunman who hid in a 'murder hole'
The pilot is able to programme the missile's fuse from the cockpit before firing it, selecting the level of destructive power by adjusting the way the warhead detonates.
The Royal Air Force is anxious to distance itself from claims that coalition air strikes are killing thousands of Afghan civilians each year, and to demonstrate the care taken by its pilots to prevent so-called 'collateral damage.'

While Britain's Harrier jets and Apache helicopters have dropped hundreds and bombs and missiles on Taliban targets in recent years, the MOD has made a point of not releasing cockpit footage or photographs of air strikes in recent years to avoid handing propaganda opportunities to the enemy.

The footage, recorded by the on-board targeting system of a Harrier GR9 strike jet, shows an incident in June this year when a Dual Mode Brimstone was fired in combat for the first time.

British troops clearing a series of compounds in Helmand Province came under fire from a single enemy gunman hiding in a 'murder hole' beneath a compound wall.
Damage limitation: The high-precision missile demolishes a fraction of the area that would have been flattened by a 1,000lb bomb
Rather than risk casualties by trying to assault his well-protected firing position, they called on British aircraft overhead.

An airborne surveillance aircraft used its sensors to pin-point the gunman's exact location, and the Harrier pilot unleashed the Brimstone from thousands of feet overhead, recording the moment of impact - exactly on the target.

While the blast coats the compound in dust, it causes minimal damage, and the cluster of civilian homes is unaffected.

Civilian casualties from air strikes have become a major political problem for the U.S-led coalition in Afghanistan, and are widely exploited by the Taliban to undermine support for the allies among ordinary Afghans - as well as causing divisions between the coalition and the Afghan government.

Earlier this month a major air strike near the northern town of Kunduz killed as many as 100 people on the ground, including 40 civilians.

RAF insiders insist the issue is widely misrepresented, claiming most Afghan civilian casualties are caused by the Taliban's roadside bombs and rockets, while explosions of any kind are often wrongly blamed on 'air strikes.'

Group Captain Colin Basnett, commander of the RAF's Tornado Force serving in Afghanistan, said: 'The Dual Mode Seeker Brimstone is an incredibly precise weapon and its introduction into service has significantly increased the capability of the Tornado Force to strike moving or static targets, whilst also reducing the risk of civilian casualties and unwanted damage to property.'



http://link.brightcove.com/services/...id=42078265001

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...#ixzz0SIzHtAP4


First i have heard of this , the new tallybunnyburgermaker , anyone else know of this little Gem , if its been posted before , appols .

[nebula82]

Awesome, and very effective. I find it hard to believe these kinds of missiles have only been recently developed...?

But seeing that the MOD is in a major cost-cutting drive, hope they will be able to afford mass-producing these precision missiles.

Nebula82.

[Dreadnought]

Can we look forward to say a shoulder fired version? That would work out real nice for the ground pounders.

[tankie]

Can we look forward to say a shoulder fired version? That would work out real nice for the ground pounders.

I think so Dreads , just as soon as we sell off our flintlock muskets to pay for them

[Dreadnought]

I think so Dreads , just as soon as we sell off our flintlock muskets to pay for them

Well atleast you still have your trusty bow and arrows. William Tell and all.;)

[tankie]

Well atleast you still have your trusty bow and arrows. William Tell and all.;)

Haktchooally ol froot , it twere Robin Of Loxley who put the arrow thro the air , there to be buried , not the Swiss apple crusher , and ironically if our poxed up govt thought they could get away with it , we would indeed be still putting 2 fingers up to the enemy ,theoreticaly , but in reality we still do ;)

[treasure44]

Awesome, and very effective. I find it hard to believe these kinds of missiles have only been recently developed...?

But seeing that the MOD is in a major cost-cutting drive, hope they will be able to afford mass-producing these precision missiles.

Nebula82.

Yeah thats the issue. They are buying many Typhoons, but how many actually airworthy AMRAAMS etc are left in the inventory??

Back on topic. Its primarily an Anti-armour missile so that would explain the lack of explosive detontation. Surely its a pretty expensive thing to fire? I mean the Javelin we use is above 60,000 pounds a pop

[Kernow]

To enlighten readers of this this: What 'Treasure44' is trying to say about 'Brimstone' is this.

Brimstone is an anti-tank missile which has a 'Tandem' Warhead like most Anti-Tank Missiles. Thus it would have a 'Crush Type Fuse (detonates on impact), the first charge would trigger any reactive armour (ERA), which would be closely followed by the High Explosive (HE) anti-tank charge, which would be shaped, which causes the HE explosion to form something like a 'Jet Dart', i.e. it squirts into the armour, hence the lack of explosion (less colatarel damage). Basically it is a HEAT round. Oh by the way it can also be launced from ground based systems.

[treasure44]

To enlighten readers of this this: What 'Treasure44' is trying to say about 'Brimstone' is this.

Brimstone is an anti-tank missile which has a 'Tandem' Warhead like most Anti-Tank Missiles. Thus it would have a 'Crush Type Fuse (detonates on impact), the first charge would trigger any reactive armour (ERA), which would be closely followed by the High Explosive (HE) anti-tank charge, which would be shaped, which causes the HE explosion to form something like a 'Jet Dart', i.e. it squirts into the armour, hence the lack of explosion (less colatarel damage). Basically it is a HEAT round. Oh by the way it can also be launced from ground based systems.

Thanks yeah thats what i meant
Is it known how much a brimestone costs?

[tankie]

Thanks yeah thats what i meant
Is it known how much a brimestone costs?

Brimstone


The Advanced Air-launched Anti-Armour Weapon (AAAW), known as Brimstone, is an area weapon to attack enemy armoured forces as early and as far forward as possible. It replaces the BL755 cluster bomb in the anti-armour role, and will be carried by Tornado GR4/4a, Harrier GR7/9 and Eurofighter Typhoon.

The Royal Air Force sought a replacement for the BL755 weapon that was becoming increasingly ineffective against modern armour. It was to be carried on Tornado GR4/4A, Harrier GR7/T10, and Typhoon and be capable of defeating the present and future battlefield threat. It had to be totally autonomous after launch (fire and forget), and operate night or day in all weather conditions.

These fixed-wing aircraft will complement the capability provided by the Apache AH64-D, which is armed with the Hellfire anti-armour weapon. Brimstone operates automatically after launch, which helps reduce the hazard to the attacking aircraft from enemy fire. Development and procurement of Brimstone has cost the RAF some Ģ822m since 1996. The weapon entered service in mid 2005.

BRIMSTONE Specifications

Diameter
0.18m

Length
1.81m

Weight
49kg

Propulsion
Cast double-base propellant rocket motor

Cruising Speed
Boost to supersonic

Range
8km

Guidance
Inertial guidance + seeker determination to target acquisition, then seeker control




BRIMSTONE - DERIVED FROM THE US ARMY HELLFIRE MISSILE

Brimstone is derived from the US Army Hellfire AGM-114F missile with a weapon comprising three missiles and a launcher. Powered by a rocket motor it can seek and destroy targets many kilometres from launch point. Ground acquisition and target recognition are achieved by a milli-metric wave radar seeker developed by GMRDS. Steerable fins guide the missile towards the target with final impact causing a tandem charge warhead to detonate. The first, smaller warhead nullifies reactive armour allowing the follow through charge to penetrate the main armour.

A Brimstone missile was successfully launched for the first time at Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), Arizona 12 August 1999. The firing took place from a Brimstone launcher mounted on a specially constructed platform and was the first in a series of ground-based trials.

In June 1999, Alenia Marconi Systems announced the award of a contract to Defence Munitions, Beith, for the assembly of Brimstone missiles. The award of this sub-contract represents the successful achievement of another milestone in the programme.

PRIME CONTRACTOR

The prime contractor and weapon Design Authority is Alenia Marconi Systems based at Stanmore, Middlesex. Their major sub-contractor is Boeing North American (BNA) who supply the missile bus and launcher electronics assembly. Flight Refuelling Ltd are the Design Authority for the launcher structure with Air Log Ltd producing the missile container.

On 30 November 1999, the announcement was made that British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems had merged to become British Aerospace Systems with a 50 % interest in Alenia Marconi Systems. Alenia Marconi Systems is an equal shares joint venture company between Finmeccanica of Italy and GEC of the United Kingdom and is teamed with Boeing for the development and production of the Brimstone system.


Quite expensive , but compared to the MP,S expenses its cheap innit , the cost of an individual missile ,i dont know

[BD1]

Brimstone is derived from Hellfire. Hellfire is over 15 years in use in Sweden and Norway as coastal def. missile. Such setup as in this pic is surely bit cheaper than a Tornado bomber with itīs associated expenses.

[Kodiakmarmoset]

Oh yeah, the latest and the greatest. I wonder just how effective it will be overall. I remember what that JDAM did to the northern alliance troops when they were trying to take out the prison building at Qala I Jangi.

It was supposed to hit the building in the compound, not the NA troops on the wall. All of the hype we hear about these new weapons isn't necessarily true until proven so. Personally I wouldn't be within half a mile of where this thing is going to hit.

We shall see. That's one hell of a lot of quid to make this thing from the git go. If it's so closely related to the Hellfire why not just use them?

[treasure44]

Oh yeah, the latest and the greatest. I wonder just how effective it will be overall. I remember what that JDAM did to the northern alliance troops when they were trying to take out the prison building at Qala I Jangi.

It was supposed to hit the building in the compound, not the NA troops on the wall. All of the hype we hear about these new weapons isn't necessarily true until proven so. Personally I wouldn't be within half a mile of where this thing is going to hit.

We shall see. That's one hell of a lot of quid to make this thing from the git go. If it's so closely related to the Hellfire why not just use them?

right, to get a few points straight on the Qala I Jangi incident, there is a book by damien lewis which provides a comprehensive account of the seige, written with help from the SBS and american SF soldiers who were there, including the blue on blue. It states that the the lack of standardised protocol for calling in airstrikes between british and american forces was to blame. The american system needed both the freindly and target's coordinates for weapon launch. This was different to to the British system of only putting up the target coordinates.

The book suggests that (my opinion also) the freindly coordinates were entered and not the target coordinates. So what you are saying about errant JDAM strikes is not particularly valid considering,

the fact that ISAF forces regularly call in danger close airstrikes,
the amount of ordinance being dropped everyday, compared to the casualty figures due to blue on blue airstrikes. I would say that the safety margins for air to ground weapons are improving, and they are becoming safer, not as you put it less safe.