BAE Systems has secured a new £135m contract to maintain and repair Royal Navy torpedo weapons, which will support 315 skilled jobs across the UK, strengthening both Britain’s undersea defence capability and its advanced engineering supply chain.

The three-year Torpedo Repair and Maintenance (TRAM) contract runs from July 2026 to June 2029 and covers the Royal Navy’s Spearfish and Sting Ray torpedoes, which are deployed by submarines, surface warships and maritime patrol aircraft. The contract will directly support 150 engineering and technician roles at BAE Systems, including 100 positions in Portsmouth and a further 50 across Edinburgh, Chelmsford and the area around Glasgow. An additional 165 jobs are expected to be supported through the company’s UK supply chain.

The government said the investment is intended to reinforce the UK’s ability to respond to undersea threats while using defence spending to support economic growth and skilled employment across the country.

This is defence spending doing exactly what it should – keeping our country safe while securing 315 skilled jobs and creating new opportunities across our country.

We are proud of backing British jobs, British skills and British industry.
Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry

Sustaining torpedo availability

The TRAM contract is designed to ensure the Royal Navy’s torpedo inventory remains available and operationally ready, supporting both anti-submarine warfare and the UK’s wider maritime defence capabilities.

Spearfish is the Royal Navy’s heavy-weight torpedo, while Sting Ray is a lightweight weapon designed primarily for anti-submarine warfare. Maintaining the systems throughout their operational lives requires specialist engineering, repair, testing and support capabilities. BAE Systems said it has been responsible for supporting the weapons since 2019, during which time it has supported the introduction of the latest Spearfish variant while maintaining the availability of Sting Ray.

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.

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.
Scott Jamieson, Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Maritime and Land Defence Solutions

Bridge to next-generation support

The TRAM contract will also provide a bridge to the longer-term WHITEHEAD2 programme, which is intended to introduce a modernised torpedo support solution from 2029. The transition is part of the UK’s effort to ensure its undersea warfare capabilities can continue to evolve as the nature of maritime threats changes.

The government said the contract forms part of the £298bn of defence investment announced over four years under its Defence Investment Plan, with ministers seeking to use increased defence expenditure to stimulate domestic manufacturing and engineering capability.

For BAE Systems and its supply chain, the contract provides a multi-year source of work for specialist engineering skills while supporting the wider industrial base involved in maintaining the Royal Navy’s weapons systems.

The investment comes as the UK seeks to increase the resilience of its defence supply chains and retain critical engineering expertise domestically. For manufacturers operating in highly specialised areas of defence, such long-term support contracts can provide continuity of demand while sustaining capabilities that can be difficult to replace once lost.

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