Royal Navy’s upgraded Spearfish torpedo declared ready for the front line
May 14, 2021,
by
Naida Hakirevic
The Royal Navy’s new Spearfish torpedo has been declared ready for front-line action with the navy and undergone extensive deepwater trials with HMS Audacious in the Bahamas.
View from trials team boat as they approach HMS Audacious. Image by Royal Navy
Five of the heavy torpedoes were successfully fired by Audacious – the fourth of the Royal Navy’s Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines – during three days of trials on a special range.
The firings at AUTEC, the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Centre on Andros Island, studied the performance of the weapon at its maximum operating depth and challenged the torpedo’s homing abilities through the introduction of countermeasures.