"The Brimstone used its own radar to keep track of the target. This "fire and forget" capability makes jets, operating outside the range of any weapons on these small boats, capable to quickly and safely destroying many of these fast attack boats.
"The British 55 kg (109 pound) Brimstone was originally developed as an upgraded version of the American Hellfire. Brimstone ended up as a Hellfire in general shape only.
My comment:
(a) view photos only in:
(i) brimstone missile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brimstone_missile
(ii) AGM-114 Hellfire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-114_Hellfire
(b) I did not intend to recommend the following report, which sounds a bit like propaganda against China. But in retrospect, it does offer a lesson on how to deal with Iran's--and China's--tactics of fast-moving, swarming missile boats attempting to overpower a big war ship of an adversary.
Tom Vanden Brook, The B-1 bomber - Back to the future. Boeing's B-1 has been part of America's defense since the 1980s. It has served as a nuclear deterrent to the Soviet Union and as a conventional bomber in the war on terror. Now it's poised to counter the rising power of China. USA Today, July 8, 2012. http://www.usatoday.com/news/mil ... strategy/56097706/1
Quote:
"The Air Force, [Lt Col George Holland, commander of the Air Force's 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron] says, is working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to outfit the B-1 with a long-range anti-ship missile. The bomber will be able to track ships at sea and launch the missiles from 'hundreds of miles' away.
"The Air Force, in a presentation on the bomber's capabilities, shows its range from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam [jets' home base]. Without refueling, the jet [B-1] can hit targets across most of the South China Sea with 24 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM). Those weapons, cruise missiles that can change course in midflight, can hit moving targets, such as ships.
(c) AGM-158 JASSM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-158_JASSM(a large, semi-stealthy long-range weapon of the 2,000 pounds (910 kg) class; Operational range >230 mi (>370 km); more photos in "Lockheed Martin JASSM Website" underneath section 7 External links)