MBDA has successfully completed a series of live firings of the Brimstone air-to-surface missile from a Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.
The live firings were conducted as part of new enhancements to be made to the British Royal Air Force (RAF).
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The missile was fired from BAE Systems’ Military Air and Information facility at Warton, Lancashire, UK, to achieve weapons integration clearance for operational use.
The new missile system is expected to add improved capability to the aircraft.
Brimstone will provide Typhoon with a low-collateral, pin-point accurate air-to-surface weapon in order to further improve the aircraft’s already combat-proven swing-role performance.
Planning for the next stages of work on Brimstone, including evaluation by the RAF in mid-2018, is currently underway ahead of its entry into service, BAE Systems stated.
BAE Systems Eurofighter Capability Delivery director Andy Flynn said: “To complete this milestone is testament to the expertise and dedication of our people and the value of working closely with our partners.
“Brimstone will add a low-collateral, high-precision strike capability and ensure Typhoon remains fit to meet the threats of the future for decades to come.”
A total of nine firings and nine jettison trials of Brimstone have been completed, with support from the UK Ministry of Defence, MBDA, QinetiQ, Eurofighter GmbH and Eurofighter partner companies, Airbus and Leonardo.
The trials involved a range of specific release scenarios, testing at various heights, speeds, levels of G-force and in different positions on the aircraft wing and in the launcher.
Further flight trials are expected to take place at the beginning of 2018, followed by an operational evaluation by the RAF.
