Atlas Elektronik presents its anti-torpedo torpedo (ATT), the SeaSpider
At UDT 2017, MONS sat down with Francois Savy, senior sales manager for naval weapons at Atlas Elektronik, to talk about the SeaSpider anti torpedo torpedo (ATT). “So far anti-torpedo systems were mostly what we call soft-kill systems, which aim at diverting incoming torpedoes through a variety of systems such as jamming, noise, etc,” says Mr Savy, “however, more and more torpedoes are developed that can detect such systems and continue past them, so it has become key to develop hard kill systems.”

The SeaSpider is a hard kill anti-torpedo system developed to seek out attacking torpedoes with the sole objective of their immediate destruction. Thanks to a fully digitised homing sonar, it can operate in passive, active and intercept mode simultaneously. It can be integrated on all platforms, even those that are not built for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and is also very efficient in shallow waters. While the recommended launcher for SeaSpider is the dedicated fixed launcher, it can also be launched from a sub-calibre torpedo tube insert.

“Atlas Elektronik has been developing this technology together with the German Ministry of defence for years,” concludes Mr Savy, “but as a number of modern torpedoes, which can identify and avoid soft-kill anti-torpedo systems, are coming on the market (such as the French F21), we are seeing an increased interest from a number of other navies, and we aim to have it at TRL 9 at the same time as the Canadian Surface Combat (CSC) programme.”

Dr. Alix Valenti