The Ministry of Defence has awarded BAE Systems a £270 million contract to upgrade the Royal Navy’s Spearfish torpedoes.

The deal with BAE Systems will ensure that production will continue at its Portsmouth facility for another 10 years.

The Spearfish programme will support 60 existing jobs and will lead to 40 more engineers being recruited. Defence Secretary Michael
Fallon said: “This contract award is good news for the Royal Navy, the UK and Portsmouth.”

The Spearfish upgrade includes a new warhead, a change to the fuel system (to improve safety), full digitisation of the weapon and a new fibre-optic guidance link to improve its performance.

These heavyweight torpedoes are carried by the Royal Navy’s Astute, Vanguard and Trafalgar Class submarines.

Bernard Gray, the MoD’s Chief of Defence Material, said: “Spearfish is one of the most powerful and advanced wire-guided torpedoes in the world and enables Royal Navy submarines to engage a wide variety of surface and underwater targets.

“The contract to upgrade these important weapons represents value for money and a significant capability boost for the Royal Navy, highlighting how the MoD is investing in equipment that the armed forces need now and in the future to defend the UK.”