Navy Torpedoes: £230m Maintenance Deal Agreed

A new £230m contract has been agreed to provide maintenance for the Royal Navy's Spearfish and Sting Ray torpedoes.

The six-year Torpedoes Repair and Maintenance (TRAM) deal supports work carried out at the BAE Systems Broad Oak facility in Portsmouth.

The contract will help guarantee the Navy's inventory of Spearfish Heavyweight and Sting Ray lightweight torpedoes.

It will include technical repair, provision of spares, stock management, logistics and trials support.

Safe storage of the torpedoes is considered vital, so the contract also covers safety, environmental and engineering advice to support the secure use of the weapons.

Dr Brooke Hoskins, director of products and training services for BAE Systems Maritime Services, said the torpedoes play a "vital role in layered anti-submarine warfare".

"We are incredibly proud to continue delivering these critical support services to the Royal Navy through a combination of our agile and innovative forward thinking and our heritage and expertise," she added.

Spearfish torpedoes, which use sonar to home in on targets, are carried by the Navy's Astute-class, Trafalgar-class submarines, as well as the nuclear deterrent Vanguard-class.

Sting Ray torpedoes provide close attack capability, automatically targeting enemy threats.

They are used on anti-submarine warfare missions and are carried on frigates and Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.

Defence minister Jeremy Quin said: "Our Royal Navy submarines require sophisticated defensive and offensive underwater weapons to deter a wide range of surface and subsurface threats."

He described the investment as "crucial" in providing the "availability and effectiveness" of the weapons, while also supporting British jobs.

The TRAM contract follows the Torpedo Capability Contract (TCC) with BAE Systems, which ran for 10 years.

Cover image: A Spearfish torpedo (Picture: Royal Navy).