HMS Queen Elizabeth has encountered a dangerous foe at sea, a massive inflatable target known as the “Killer Tomato”.

The Royal Navy use a wide range of weapons training devices and simulators to train its personnel on various weapon systems, including firearms, missiles, and torpedoes.

The inflatable target utilised for target practice during naval operations is colloquially referred to as the “Killer Tomato.”

Its name is attributed to its resemblance to a large tomato.

These training devices are designed to provide realistic scenarios and simulations to help personnel develop the skills and knowledge necessary to operate the weapons systems effectively and safely.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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47 COMMENTS

  2. The killer tomato is also designed to take many hits before deflating, so maximum training value can be gained. 🍅 👍

  3. Who said this is a killer Tomato? Where is the evidence? Has this tomato been convicted by twelve of his peers it a court of law? Also I thuoght the death penalty had been abolished? Somebody could be in hot soup over this?😀

  6. Evening all. Quick question for you… Could phalanx destroy incoming torpedoes? If it’s own built-in radar can’t detect torpedoes, could another sensor pass targeting information to it? I much prefer a hard-kill solution than rely on decoys.
    I’ve heard many times that if a submarine has you in periscope range, you’re basically done for. But surely spraying metal towards it would be similar (at least in principle) to an incoming missile. Or is detecting torpedoes way too difficult?
    Was just curious.
    Cheers
    M@

    • Hi Matts,

      The Torpedo will run too deep for even 20mm cannon shells to reach. High velocity bullets and shells slow down really quickly when they hit water (summing they don’t ricochet off the surface). Forsenic labs use water tanks into which they fire bullets from suspect weapons. The tanks are surprisingly small, maybe 12 ft long max if memory services, and they can stop a rifle bullet as well.

      So long story a short close-in weapon system, even one such as the phalanx, ain’t going to do the job I’m afraid.

      Cheers CR

      • Hi CR, do you know if the carriers have any anti-torpedo systems on board? Decoys or hard kill? Also, do they have a sonar or are they totally reliant on ASW escorts and subs? Hope they’re not too under done.
        As already suggested, you wonder why they’re taking so long to fill the 4 x 30mm mounts. Are they waiting for Dragonfire? Four 40mm would give a pretty good shield out to 5km+/-, double the Phalanx. With the 40mm’s you mayn’t even need the Phalanx’s? And we haven’t even mentioned CAMM, lol, just did, again.

  9. Are these “Tomato” targets biodegradable? Or is the Royal Navy actively polluting the oceans? If the latter, then surely they could amend their procedures at little cost for the benefit of public relations.

    • This is the modern woke Royal navy, so, like most woke western military forces you can be sure their tomato target is fully biodegradable, vegan friendly, has been on all the DIE mandatory diversity, inclusion and equality courses, is gender neutral, and will be asked if it is happy to be shot at for target practice, and all those doing the shooting will of course write letters and statements after the fact, apologising to the tomato target for their aggressive actions, they will of course respectfully use the tomato targets preferred pro nouns which are Ketc/Hup. 😉

    • Once you fill it full of holes it deflates and you send out the sea boat to recover it. You ditch it when next alongside.
      As the RN is active in MARPOL prevention it doesn’t pollute if it can at all help it. If it does pollute the paper work needed to record and report the issue is of biblical proportions so its far better not to do it in the first place..

    • You will probably want us to recover the Bullets from the sea bed especially the expanded plutonium ones (yes radioactive)???

  12. Let’s hope they actually destroyed it. The prospect of wounded killer tomatoes roaming the ocean and taking their revenge on everything from innocent beachside bathers to nuclear submarines is frightening to say the least. Love the face drawn on the giant tomato in the video.

  13. Anybody who has seen science-fiction classic “Dark Star” will know just how fearsome these giant killer tomatoes can be! 😏

  15. Anyone else at least mildly curious re current status of HMS Prince of Wales? Original estimate for completion of repairs was Spring 2023; the window is approaching… Then, a return to HMNB Portsmouth for a previously scheduled maintenance period. Dunno, may have been an intelligent move for RN to have opted for the manufacturer’s extended warranty plan…🤔😳😉
    ..

  16. Where on earth did the RN get it’s killer tomatoes from? I’ve looked in Morrisons, Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Co-Op, Lidl and Aldi and couldn’t find any. 😆😂😅
    Maybe I need to go upmarket and try Waitrose or M+S?

    • LOL, more luck growing your own! No doubt we will be launching them off the ski ramp soon enough!

      Official rendering shows Ghost Bat ‘loyal wingman’ landing aboard Queen Elizabeth-class carrier24 FEBRUARY 2023

      “An official rendering shown for the first time at an event on 21 February depicts a Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat ‘loyal wingman’ landing aboard a UK Royal Navy (RN) Queen Elizabeth (QE)-class aircraft carrier.

      Revealed by an official who was presenting under the Chatham House Rule, the computer-generated image shows the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) being recovered by means of an arrester hook, and gear not currently fitted to the carrier. While Boeing confirmed to Janes that the image is official, it declined to release a high-resolution version of it.”

      • Interesting, useful additional function to the QE carrier battle group. As with all drone/ unmanned systems, the devil is in the detail. so how many will be purchased? will this deliver some resilience and attritional reserve? what roles and functions will these unmanned systems perform and are they able to effectively deliver that role?

  18. It’s a ‘Brob’ boy, a large round bright pink boy used for naval gunnery practice!

    PS Brob was a large round hypertensive ex Royal Navy guy I worked with around 25 years ago.

  24. Serendipity – I’ve just been seeing Chris Terrill’s documentary on QE, and finished the episode with the killer tomato a short while ago.

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