Composites Today

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Filament-wound GRP launcher tubes for Torpedo

Marshall Slingsby Advanced Composites, UK has received an extension to its contract with SEA (Systems Engineering & Assessment Ltd), UK to produce composites torpedo launcher tubes. Marshall Slingsby Advanced Composites are one of the UK’s premier complex composite structures & assembly service providers operating across land, air and sea defence platforms. SEA provides engineering and software design services to Government agencies, industrial prime contractors. 

Building on a decades-long relationship with SEA, the follow-on contract will see Marshall Slingsby Advanced Composites continue to manufacture launcher tubes to deploy lightweight torpedos. According to Marshall Slingsby Advanced Composites, SEA’s Torpedo Launcher Systems are used by several navies around the world due to their ease of configuration and adaptability to a broad range of naval weapons currently in service. The systems’ design allows for launcher tubes to be housed internally or mounted above decks, and meets the requirements of ships of varying sizes and structures. The latest contract will further expand the capabilities of existing customer fleets deploying SEA’s Torpedo Launcher Systems, and will meet new demands arising from a growing export customer base requiring anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

The launcher tubes, manufactured at Marshall’s composites facility in North Yorkshire, are an extremely robust design. Their filament-wound GRP structure provides a lightweight and corrosion-resistant solution ready to withstand both the harsh environment in which they are deployed and the launch pressure experienced when firing.

Marshall Slingsby Advanced Composites a long-standing background of providing launcher tube support and development for SEA, including joint work relating to other notable lightweight torpedoes such as Stingray, MU90, Mk46 and Mk54.

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