BAE Systems has secured a 135-million-pound ($182-million) contract to repair and maintain the Royal Navy's Spearfish and Sting Ray torpedoes.
BAE Systems has secured a 135-million-pound ($182-million) contract to repair and maintain the Royal Navy's Spearfish and Sting Ray torpedoes, helping sustain the service's underwater warfare capability.
The three-year contract runs from July 2026 to June 2029 and supports around 315 jobs across the UK, including 100 in Portsmouth and 50 across Edinburgh, Chelmsford, and near Glasgow.
Part of the 298-billion-pound ($401-billion) Defence Investment Plan, the contract serves as a bridge to the long-term WHITEHEAD2 program, which will deliver a modernized torpedo support solution from 2029 to help the Royal Navy counter future threats.
“Since 2019 we have delivered consistently high levels of torpedo availability for the UK Armed Forces, supporting both the successful entry into service of Spearfish and the ongoing operational readiness of Sting Ray,” Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Maritime and Land Defence Solutions Scott Jamieson said.
“As a trusted partner to UK Defence, we are proud to underpin the nation’s Continuous at Sea Deterrent and anti-submarine warfare capability through exceptional reliability, availability and performance.”
The Torpedoes
Introduced in the 1980s, the Sting Ray is the Royal Navy's primary lightweight anti-submarine torpedo, deployed from surface ships, helicopters, and P-8A Poseidon aircraft.
BAE Systems was awarded a four-year contract in 2024 to upgrade the in-service Sting Ray Mod 1 to the Mod 2 standard, adding technological enhancements and new deployment options to counter emerging threats.
Operational since 2001, the Mod 1 is designed to engage fast, deep-diving submarines as well as quiet conventional submarines operating in coastal waters.
Introduced in the early 1990s, the Spearfish is the Royal Navy's heavyweight torpedo, carried by Astute-class attack submarines and Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines.
It serves as the Royal Navy's primary anti-submarine and anti-surface torpedo, capable of engaging hostile submarines, frigates, destroyers, and larger surface warships.
Its upgraded variant, the Spearfish Mod 1, features "a new warhead, a safer fuel system, a smarter electronic 'brain' and a fiber-optic guidance link with its parent submarine" to improve accuracy and lethality.
