http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13941130000841
英国媒体报导，尽管已经发射了9枚，英国硫磺精密空对地导弹迄今未杀死一名恐怖分子。该导弹使用雷达寻地和激光制导技术，一枚导弹价值10万英镑。硫磺导弹第一次使用是在1月10日，打击在拉卡省的卡车。
从2015年12月2日到2016年1月29日，英国空军消耗了伊斯兰国有生力量，总共击毙7名作战人员。其中，2名圣战分子被铺路IV激光制导炸弹击毙，另外5人被从收割机UAV发射的美国制造的地狱火消灭。
英国发言人称，皇家空军总共将近打击伊斯兰国600次，正在将恐怖分子驱赶出拉马迪等伊拉克城市，严重削弱了他们在叙利亚的基础设施。皇家空军的首要目标不是打击人员，而是打击恐怖分子的基础设施，如油田，切断和减弱恐怖分子军事基础设施，后勤路线，财政收入等。
硫磺导弹打击距离11公里，可以打击速度达每小时110公里的目标。装备低能量高聚集力装药弹头。可以打击恐怖分子架设机枪的卡车。在英国皇家空军参加打击前，英国总理称其为斩断蛇头的利器。英国一名议员称其为和其他盟国的关键不同。保守党部长称其为世界上独一无二的武器，
硫磺导弹目前仅能从旋风战机发射。该型战机可以携带硫磺导弹和铺路炸弹。新型的台风战机可以投掷铺路炸弹，但想要发射硫磺导弹需要经过现代化改装。从华盛顿得到的收割机UAV可以发射地狱火。
TEHRAN (FNA)- Britain’s sophisticated air-to-surface Brimstone missiles have not killed any terrorists in Syria so far, although at least nine missiles have been fired. A single missile using radar homing and laser guidance technology costs 100,000.
The Huffington Post UK made a freedom of information (FOI) request to the British Defense Ministry and discovered the much-touted Brimstone missiles with promised standalone precision have not claimed any terrorist scalps yet, RT reported.
After British MPs voted in favor of the Royal Air Force joining the Syria campaign in December, the expensive missiles were held back for at least the first month of operations.
Brimstone’s first recorded deployment took place on January 10, the Independent reports. It was aimed against terrorist supply trucks in Raqqa. By the end of January, Brimstone missiles had been used in nine raids.
“We are playing a crucial role in a campaign that will take time and patience. Using the right weapon for each scenario, RAF jets have struck Daesh [Arabic acronym for ISIL] almost 600 times,” a British MoD spokeswoman said, adding that the RAF is driving ISIL) out of Sinjar and Ramadi in Iraq and has “severely weakened” key terrorist infrastructure in Syria.
According to MoD information, between December 2, 2015 and January 29, 2016, RAF airstrikes in Syria have managed to deplete ISIL manpower by just seven combatants. Two jihadists were killed with Paveway IV laser-guided bombs (US$20,000 each) and five were killed by US-made Hellfire missiles ($70,000 apiece) fired from Reaper UAVs.
The British MoD insists that killing terrorists is not a primary goal of the RAF in Syria. Instead, the aim is to target jihadist infrastructure, such as oil fields under terrorist control, to disrupt and degrade ISIL military infrastructure, logistics’ routes and revenues.
Yet razing stationary oil extraction infrastructure does not require expensive precision weapons - an old-fashioned drop bomb would do the job.
Brimstone missiles have an 11-kilometer range and are armed with a low-powered yet “highly focused” explosive warhead. They can engage targets moving as fast as 110 km/h. That means that in theory no terrorist pickup truck with a machine-gun mounted on it can escape. However, the target’s worth is practically guaranteed to be many times lower than the price of the weapon.
Ahead of the RAF joining the campaign in Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron praised Brimstone as a tool to “cut off the 'head of the snake’” in the terrorists’ self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa. MP Sir Gerland Howarth said Brimstone missiles represented a “key difference between us and other coalition partners,” hinting that neither the US nor France have such missiles to deal with jihadists. Conservative minister David Jones simply described the weapons as “unique.”
The combat effectiveness of the new weapon and the cost of participation in the Syrian campaign urgently needs objective evaluation, according to the Scottish National Party (SNP) MP, Alex Salmond. As the party's international affairs spokesman in Westminster, he said the Huffington Post’s findings “contrast dramatically” with David Cameron's previous argument.
“It is now the common practice of this prime minister to mislead the country into military engagement and then to only devote a passing interest towards these crucial issues as his case crumbles before our eyes,” Salmon said, stressing that he has “no doubt” that Libya is going to be the “new crucial theater of engagement” once again.
The only operators of the Brimstone weapon are the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, which is not only playing a role in the US-led anti-ISIL coalition, but has also announced the creation of an anti-terrorist coalition of its own.
The Royal Air Force in Syria can only deploy Brimstone missiles from older Tornado jets, which carry both Brimstone missiles and Paveway bombs. The newer Typhoons jets drop Paveway bombs and have not been modernized to fire Brimstone missiles. British Reaper UAVs brought from Washington use American-made Hellfire missiles and bombs.
