LASER-GUIDED supersonic missiles that can hit a target moving at 70mph with little or no collateral damage are key to defeating Islamic State terrorists in the Middle East.
Tornado fighter jet, which carry the Brimstone missiles
The missiles use steerable fins to guide the missile towards the target and are said to be so accurate that they can be fired from 20,000 feet and seven miles away and still go through a small window.
Brimstones are so sophisticated that they can be fired at enemy targets in built-up areas with little risk of causing civilian casualties.
Britain and Saudi Arabia are the only two countries to have invested in the weaponry, which compares favourably to the American-made Hellfire missiles that are known to produce a large amount of shrapnel.
Brimstones, which cost £850m to bring into service, were designed for use against armoured vehicles and can hit fast-moving targets.
Brimstone missiles
The weapons use a twin charge warhead, with the first explosion piercing the outer, armoured shell of the target and the second explosion propelled through the hole.
Each rocket includes an in-built radar, allowing it to be used in all weather conditions, as well as a self-destruct function to abort a mission.
Brimstones, which weigh 49kg, are 1.8 metres long and have a range of 11 miles, were used against Colonel Gaddafi in 2011 and before that against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The deadly weapons could be fired at ISIS jihadis in Syria as early as Wednesday if David Cameron holds a much-anticipated vote on extending bombing raids beyond Iraq.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said he had been briefing Labour MPs on military action over the weekend but stressed the Government does “not yet” have a guaranteed majority to back airstrikes.
He rejected claims that bombing Raqqa and other ISIS-held cities could lead to a large number of civilian casualties as the terror group retreats into tunnels or uses the local population as “human shields”.
The deadly weapons could be fired at ISIS jihadis in Syria as early as Wednesday if David Cameron holds a much-anticipated vote on extending bombing raids beyond Iraq.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said he had been briefing Labour MPs on military action over the weekend but stressed the Government does “not yet” have a guaranteed majority to back airstrikes.
He rejected claims that bombing Raqqa and other ISIS-held cities could lead to a large number of civilian casualties as the terror group retreats into tunnels or uses the local population as “human shields”.
Jet firing Paveway bombs
The increased accuracy of the Paveway IV allows for a warhead half the size of the earlier Paveway weapons, giving the potential for a single aircraft to carry more weapons and so strike multiple targets in a single pass.
Storm Shadow is another long-range, air-launched missile and is one of the most advanced weapon of its kind in the world.
The missile is equipped with a powerful conventional warhead and is designed to strike hardened targets and infrastructure such as buried and protected command centres.
Storm Shadow is a British, French and Italian air-launched cruise missile
RAF jets also carry general purpose bombs that come in two types, the 505kg and a smaller 312kg version, and date back to those used in the Second World War.
At ten times the weight of the Brimstone missile, general purpose bombs can be dropped as freefall bombs or fitted with a retarder unit, which slows the bomb in flight, allowing aircraft to drop one at low level over the target and get clear before it detonates.
They have been adapted for use on supersonic strike aircraft and some are also converted for use as Paveway II and Paveway III devices, which can be guided by laser.
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