The Royal Air Force (RAF) announced today (30) new weapons for its fleet of P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol jets. This is the Sting Ray Mod.1, a lightweight torpedo manufactured in the United Kingdom by BAe Systems.
RAF has already progressed work on integrating the Sting Ray into the Poseidon, which will give the UK a powerful and sovereign torpedo capability, providing flexibility to the Poseidon fleet. The Sting Ray will be used alongside the Mk.54 torpedo, manufactured in the United States.
Already used by the Royal Navy, the Sting Ray is used against submarines from vessels, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, highlights the RAF. It has a sophisticated acoustic system and a high-precision navigation system, capable of detecting, classifying and attacking targets autonomously. It has low lifetime costs and does not require intrusive maintenance throughout its lifetime.
“The use of Sting Ray and Mk54 torpedoes gives the UK Poseidon fleet flexibility and interoperability with our allies”, said Group Captain Richard Osselton, Senior Officer in Charge of the Poseidon Futures Program. “I am very pleased to see that Sting Ray Mod 1 integration has begun at RAF Lossiemouth.”
The Sting Ray Mod 1 is designed to defeat the dual threats of fast, deep-sea, double-hulled submarines operating in the quiet oceanic environment and conventional submarines in coastal waters. The improved performance of the Sting Ray Mod 1 is underpinned by the development of new acoustic and tactical software, leveraging knowledge gained from extensive in-water testing with the Mod 0 version.
