The Brimstone 3 programme was given a revised baseline on 19 June and now carries an initial operating capability forecast of November 2026, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative member for Huntingdon, asked when the Secretary of State expected to receive endorsement of the revised programme baseline, with reference to the Brimstone 3 entry in the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority Major Projects Annual Report for 2025 to 2026.
Luke Pollard, the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said: “The revised baseline of the Brimstone 3 programme was approved on the 19 June 2026 and carries an Initial Operating Capability forecast of November 2026.”
The last schedule the department gave publicly came in a written answer of 30 April 2025, which said Brimstone 3 was scheduled to be fielded on Protector in the fourth quarter of 2025 and on Typhoon in the fourth quarter of 2026. November falls inside that Typhoon window.
Final safe separation trials were completed in the United States in June and further testing followed in Britain during August. Clearance on Protector was still outstanding in September, when the department said the results were undergoing analysis, and Mr Pollard said at that point that “previous delays have been overcome through a revised plan of combined USA and UK based testing.”
The programme began on 1 July 2017 and carries an approved end date of 30 April 2029. Its delivery confidence rating fell from amber to red in the March 2023 figures, which the department attributed at the time to difficulties resourcing suitably qualified and experienced people, and recovered to amber by the final quarter of 2023 to 2024 following a formal review.
