[9] It was originally intended for "fire-and-forget" use against mass formations of enemy armour, using a millimetre wave (mmW) active radar homing seeker to ensure accuracy even against moving targets.

Experience in Afghanistan led to the addition of laser guidance in the dual-mode Brimstone missile, allowing a "spotter" to pick out specific and the highest priority targets, particularly useful to minimise collateral damage when friendly forces or civilians were in the area.

After a protracted development programme, single-mode or "millimetric" Brimstone entered service with RAF Tornado aircraft in 2005, and the dual-mode variant in 2008.

An improved Brimstone 2 was expected to enter service in October 2012, but problems with the new warhead from TDW and the ROXEL rocket motor put back the planned date to November 2015.

[13][needs update] There had been a number of British air-to-ground anti-armour concepts developed during the 1970s and 1980s, including the SNEB rocket, the proposed Hawkswing version of Swingfire, and ultimately the BL.755 cluster bomb.

[14] BL.755 formed the basis for the Royal Air Force's (RAF) anti-armour air-to-ground strikes for many years, but it was always considered to be "expensive" if it needed to be used against individual targets instead of mass attacks.

[14] The next attempt adapted the Rapier airframe to carry a laser seeker, either the Martin Marietta design used on the M712 Copperhead or a similar Swedish RB.83 which was also used in the ground-to-air role.

This led to the release of AST.1238 the same year,[a] calling for a long-term project to develop a self-guided weapon using a millimetre wavelength (mmW) radar seeker.

These included the Hunting Engineering Smart Weapon Anti-Armour, an unpowered dispenser with sixteen submunitions that would be ejected at a pre-selected location and then use mmW seekers.

BAE's aircraft division added the DASA (by this point MBB SE) VERBAL system, and ML Aviation and Rheinmetall offered another cluster dispenser.

When used in the anti-armour role, their Panavia Tornado aircraft were exposed to ground fire, and they concluded some level of stand-off weapon was needed.

BAe Dynamics proposed an updated version of their earlier SRAM-based concept using the newer and larger ASRAAM to produce Typhoon.

GEC-Marconi offered their Advanced Anti-Armour Weapon (AAAW), a more refined version of their earlier Hellfire-based concept, using a 9 GHz MMW seeker that was completely fire-and-forget and could be used in all weather.

[23] In February 2014 the National Audit Office warned of a possible capability gap under existing plans to fit Brimstone to Typhoon in 2021, two years after the Tornado retired; in June 2014 the MoD announced a study to accelerate this to 2018 and look at a common launcher that could also launch SPEAR Cap 3.

It was intended that Brimstone would be integrated on the RAF Harrier aircraft fleet under Capability D of the JUMP programme with a scheduled in-service date of 2009.

[25] In late 2009 Brimstone was "nearing completion for integration on the Harrier", but in July 2010 it was reported that this would be postponed until the insensitive-munition version of the missile became available in 2012.

[32] Operational clearance of the missile was delayed by 12 months due to the unavailability of a Tornado trials aircraft, as the RAF chose instead to rush the development of the Storm Shadow air launched cruise missile ahead of the Iraq war, but another delay of 6 months resulted from redesigning the autopilot for safe release at higher speeds.

Under an Urgent Operational Requirement in 2008, modifications were made to the seeker and software of over 300 existing missiles to create Dual-Mode Brimstone.

[26] The new missiles can be laser guided according to the STANAG 3733 standard as well as retaining the millimetre wave seeker; the pilot can select either mode from the cockpit or use both simultaneously.

[36] The Demonstration and Manufacture contract increased the missile's performance "significantly", and converted the warhead and rocket motor to use insensitive munitions.

[38] A five-release test campaign in October 2013 culminated in a successful strike against a pickup truck travelling at 70 mph (110 km/h) in a cluttered road environment.

[40] In February 2016, integration trials with the Tornado GR4s saw 11 missiles fired at "[various] structures, a very small fast-moving vehicle, and [targets at the] edge of the weapon system’s performance envelope."

It will have a launch aircraft cockpit-selectable trajectory, which will allow line-of-sight engagement (flat trajectory) and high and low missile flight profiles to avoid close-in obstacles; a cockpit-selectable capability that allows the pilot to determine the elevation and impact angle on the target to maximise weapon effect; and a new set of warhead modes, which includes delayed, airburst, impact and proximity fuzing.

[47] In March 2019, MBDA successfully tested the latest Brimstone 3 version in Sweden, now including surface-to-surface firing, plus new hardware allowing future enhancements.

[53][54] As part of the British Army's Deep Fires Modernisation of its M270 MLRS fleet and the associated 'One launcher, Many Payloads' concepts, the UK is developing a number of new effectors to work alongside its upcoming procurement of GMLRS-ER rockets.

One of these effects, Land Precision Strike, under development by MBDA, reuses technology from Brimstone as well as CAMM and aims to create a 80-150km ranged missile for use against fleeting (Moving) targets.

[69] The French Air Force were still thinking about a purchase in March 2012, with a prime consideration being lower collateral damage[70] compared to the AASM missile.

[71] In July 2014, it was revealed that the United States Navy was studying the Dual Mode Brimstone for use on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft.

[78] In September 2019, MBDA was reportedly partnering with the Polish defence firm PGZ to produce a Brimstone carrying missile tank destroyer.

[85] A number of Wolfram vehicles, based on an extended 6x6 Supacat chassis with an 8 pack Brimstone MLRS launcher, were delivered to the AFU in 2023.