The Parliament has approved budgets for a large-scale Brimstone air-to-surface missile acquisition and development of a supersonic cruise missile. The Defence Post reports that Germany will acquire 3200 Brimstone air-to-surface missiles from MBDA for its Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets. Brimstone missiles onboard fixed-wing aircraft are carried under triple racks. Brimstone was developed in the U.K. to take out armoured vehicles and small targets with its shaped charge warhead and mmW Radar+Laser seeker, providing high precision and fire-and-forget against moving targets.
The missiles can reach a range of 60 km when launched from fixed-wing aircraft. The other budget, which is longer term, is Germany’s share in the investment in the development of Tyrfing (or Super Sonic Strike Missile, 3SM) supersonic cruise missiles. The Norwegian Kongsberg, German Diehl, and consortium MBDA will develop the missile jointly. Kongsberg will spearhead the development with the other firms supporting it. Defense News reports that the missile will be intended for naval use, succeeding the NSM missile from 2035. If the programme indeed reaches its goal, Tyrfing will be the first European supersonic cruise missile. Currently, most of the supersonic cruise missiles for naval use are much larger than the likes of RGM-84 Harpoon and NSM.
The Tyrfing Programme likely aims to offer a supersonic cruise missile in the size regime of the aforementioned missiles. It would not disrupt standards. There has been no information regarding the missile’s guidance because the programme is very early.
