The F21 is a heavy-weight torpedo developed in France by DCNS for the French Navy. The F21 Torpedo was developed to replace the F17 torpedo with a new generation of torpedo. The F21 is designed to have increased speed and effectiveness than its predecessor. It is designed to neutralize enemy ships and submarines. The F21 torpedo is planned to evolve by sea bottom, especially in the extremely noisy and dense coastal areas in maritime traffic. It is planned to gradually equip all French submarines, starting in 2018. The contract includes the development and delivery of about one hundred F21 torpedoes and their integration into French submarines. It has also been selected for the Brazilian Navy. Characteristics History Concept The F21 was to be a development version of the Italian Black Shark torpedo. In 2008 France signed a development contract for 93 heavy torpedoes for its nuclear submarines, to be delivered from 2015. The original plan called for a derivative of the Black Shark to be built by a joint venture between DCNS, Thales and WASS, but they fell out and DCNS will now be developing the F21 Artemis with Thales and Atlas Electronic. The F21 shares similarities with the Black Shark, including an electric motor driven by an aluminum silver-oxide (AgO-Al) battery. and a contra-rotating propeller It has a warhead of PBX B2211, range of and speed of . the project has a €485m budget with a unit cost of €2.3m (FY12), or €5.2m including development costs. Qualification The F21 was first tested on DCNS's Pégase catamaran in February 2013 and a submarine launch was planned for 2014, with production deliveries scheduled to start in late 2015. Qualification testing began in 2016, and were completed in June 2017 off the coast of Var. See also MU90 Impact American 21 inch torpedo Futlyar DM2A4 Black Shark Mark 48 torpedo Spearfish Tigerfish Baek Sang Eo (White Shark) Type 89 torpedo Type 65 torpedo Yu-6 torpedo Torpedo 62 Varunastra (torpedo) References Torpedoes Naval weapons of France