Spearfish and Sting Ray torpedoes remain among the Royal Navy’s most important weapons for anti-submarine warfare and the protection of UK territorial waters. They are deployed from submarines, surface vessels, and maritime patrol aircraft, forming a key element of the United Kingdom’s deterrence and defense capabilities.
Photo: UK Ministry Of Defence
The new Torpedo Repair and Maintenance (TRAM) contract, running from July 2026 to June 2029, will ensure the continued operational readiness of these weapon systems. As the Royal Navy emphasized, torpedo reliability is directly linked to maintaining the United Kingdom’s Continuous At Sea Deterrent—the permanent deployment of a nuclear-armed submarine at sea.
The contract was awarded to BAE Systems, which has provided technical support for British torpedoes for many years. The investment will:
- directly sustain 150 jobs at BAE Systems, including 100 in Portsmouth and 50 in Edinburgh, Chelmsford, and the Glasgow area;
- secure a further 165 jobs across the UK supply chain.
The government emphasized that the contract demonstrates how defense spending can be used to stimulate the domestic economy and strengthen the advanced engineering sector.
TRAM will serve as an interim arrangement until the launch of the new WHITEHEAD2 program in 2029. The program is intended to establish a modernized and more efficient torpedo support system capable of meeting future underwater threats and Royal Navy operational requirements.
The contract marks another step in the modernization of the United Kingdom’s maritime capabilities. With submarine activity increasing in the Atlantic and North Sea, maintaining the full readiness of Spearfish and Sting Ray torpedoes remains essential to protecting trade routes, territorial waters, and the country’s strategic nuclear deterrent.