Saab has made the first deliveries of its new lightweight torpedo to the Swedish Defense Procurement Agency (FMV), which is now undertaking final verification of the torpedo system to ensure it meets requirements, before commissioning with the Royal Swedish Navy.
The Saab Lightweight Torpedo, named Torped 47 by the Swedish Armed Forces, is designed to defend against foreign submarines. The torpedo is intended primarily for Swedish submarines and Visby corvettes, but it is also prepared for integration on helicopters.
“The first delivery of our new lightweight torpedo marks an important milestone for the development project, which is one of our largest ever within our business unit Underwater Systems,” said Görgen Johansson, head of Saab’s business area Dynamics. “Now the process of commissioning and replacing Sweden’s existing lightweight torpedo with the new one begins, with Saab ensuring that Sweden has a state-of-the-art lightweight torpedo at the forefront of technology.”
The torpedo has been specially developed for the Baltic Sea environment, with its shallow water and a complex topography and seabed. These place high demands on the locating and identification of submarines, as well as on navigation and communication by the torpedo.
This lightweight torpedo was ordered by Sweden in 2016, followed by Finland in 2018.