Latest Spearfish trials leave RN confident

The UK RN says its Spearfish Mod 1 heavyweight torpedo upgrade is on the ‘cusp of front-line service’, following the latest four-day set of trials at the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC) in Scotland.

Software and hardware enhancements to Spearfish were tested in repeated mock firings at the Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland, according to a 15 September statement from the RN.

A final trial will take place at BUTEC later in 2020 before the weapon is declared operational and deliveries begin to the RN Submarine Flotilla.

Features of Spearfish Mod 1 include a new warhead, a safer fuel system, an enhanced electronic ‘brain’ and a new fibre-optic guidance link with its parent submarine to improve accuracy and lethality.

Delivery of Spearfish Mod 1 was originally due from 2020-24 under a £270 million ($353 million) contract with prime contractor BAE Systems Maritime Services, signed in December 2014. Estimated whole-life costs for the torpedo upgrade are £414.52 million.

In July the Infrastructure and Projects Agency (IPA) warned that the project was ‘unachievable’ in its current formbut the MoD insisted to Shephard that Spearfish Mod 1 would achieve a 2021 equipment delivery date.

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