Great Britain and Ukraine are negotiating the sale of sea-to-sea and air-to-sea missiles to Ukraine, for attack boats and patrol aircraft, according to The Times with reference to its sources in the United Kingdom Department of Defense.
These are the Brimstone and Maritime Brimstone rockets manufactured by MBDA UK, headquartered in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Maritime Brimstone plans to arm the Ukrainian Navy's Fast Inshore Attack Craft (FIAC) missile boats, which will soon begin construction at the Babcock Rosyth shipyard in Rosyth, Scotland. The air-to-ground missiles are intended for patrol aircraft and helicopters of the Naval Aviation of the Naval Forces of Ukraine. The cost of one rocket is more than £ 100,000.
Brimstone and Maritime Brimstone work on the principle of "fire-and-forget" (English fire-and-forget), are equipped with a radar homing head and are capable of hitting moving targets with high accuracy. There is also the possibility of laser guidance. The warhead is arranged according to the tandem principle. Rocket weight - 50 kg, length - 1.8 m, diameter - 188 mm, range - up to 100 km. Solid fuel engine.
The British Air Force used Brimstone missiles against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The British newspaper notes that for the first time official London is negotiating with Ukraine on the sale of lethal weapons (boats do not count). This is taking place against the backdrop of the pan-European gas crisis provoked by the Russian Federation. The Ukrainian authorities fear that the Russian Federation may use it to seize new territories in Ukraine.
Recall, in addition to the FIAC project, British companies have contracts for the modernisation of the coastal structures of the Ukrainian Navy in Ochakov and Berdyansk, as well as for the repair of two minesweepers RN (former HMS Ramsey and Blyth) before their transfer to the Ukrainian fleet.
All these works will be carried out in accordance with the Memorandum on the implementation of maritime partnership projects, which was signed on August 21 in Odessa.
They will be financed by means of a loan in the amount of 1.25 billion pounds, allocated by the UK to Ukraine.
