Profile
- Type
- Anti-tank guided missile
- Conflict side
- Ukraine
- Origin
- United Kingdom
- Service note
- Entered UK service in 2005; supplied to Ukraine during the full-scale Russia-Ukraine War
Infantry Weapons
Brimstone
Brimstone is a British MBDA precision-guided anti-armor missile built around millimetric-wave radar guidance, with later variants adding semi-active laser and inertial navigation options. In Ukraine it has been adapted from its original air-launched role into a donated ground-launched anti-tank capability for striking Russian armor and formations.
- Conflict side
- Ukraine
- Built by
- MBDA UK
- Built in
- United Kingdom
Service History
- In service
- Operational with the Royal Air Force from 2005; supplied to Ukraine from 2022 onward
- Used by
- Armed Forces of Ukraine, Royal Air Force
- Wars
- Russia-Ukraine War, War in Afghanistan, Iraq War, 2011 military intervention in Libya
Production History
- Designer
- GEC-Marconi / MBDA UK
- Designed
- 1990s development for UK anti-armor requirements
- Built by
- MBDA UK
- Built in
- United Kingdom
- Unit cost
- Not consistently disclosed for current variants
- Produced
- Late 1990s onward, with later Dual Mode, Brimstone 2, and Brimstone 3 variants
- Number built
- Not publicly disclosed
- Variants
- Single-mode Brimstone, Dual Mode Brimstone, Brimstone 2, Brimstone 3
Specifications
- Length
- 1.8 m
- Diameter
- 0.18 m
- Weight
- Approximately 50 kg
- Warhead
- 6.3 kg tandem shaped-charge armor-penetrating warhead
- Guidance
- Millimetric-wave radar; later variants add semi-active laser and inertial navigation options
- Range
- CSIS lists legacy Brimstone at about 12-20 km depending on launch platform and Brimstone 2 at about 40-60 km depending on launch platform
Conflict Usage
- Russia-Ukraine War
- Side: Ukraine
Supplied by the United Kingdom to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as an anti-tank precision missile; UK statements in 2024 said more than 1,300 Brimstones had been provided and cited battlefield use including helping force a Russian formation away from a river crossing.
Brimstone Images
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BRIMSTONEPublisher: MBDA | Note: Supports manufacturer background, target set, and platform integration context. | Accessed: 2026-06-19BrimstonePublisher: CSIS Missile Threat | Note: Supports missile specifications, variant background, service entry, and general operational history. | Accessed: 2026-06-19UK to boost Ukraine's artillery reserves with 245 million pounds munitions packagePublisher: UK Ministry of Defence | Note: Supports UK delivery totals and direct Russia-Ukraine War use context for Brimstone missiles in Ukrainian service. | Accessed: 2026-06-19Defence Secretary oral statement for the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of UkrainePublisher: UK Ministry of Defence | Note: Supports direct Russia-Ukraine War operational use context and the February 2024 package of 200 additional Brimstone anti-tank missiles. | Accessed: 2026-06-19File:MBDA Brimstone (45372527695).jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports primary image provenance and CC BY-SA 2.0 licensing information for an MBDA Brimstone museum photograph. | Accessed: 2026-06-19File:Brimstone II missile.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports gallery image provenance and CC BY-SA 4.0 licensing information for a Brimstone II missile image. | Accessed: 2026-06-19