HMS Talent rejoins the fleet

From Defense Aerospace

Upgraded Attack Submarine Rejoins the Fleet

(Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued Feb. 27, 2007)

The Navy's potent attack submarine, HMS Talent, has rejoined the active fleet, following a £386 million upgrade.

Newly equipped with one of the most advanced sonar systems in the world and a fresh reactor core, the upgrade will ensure HMS Talent maintains her battle-winning edge and stays at the forefront of Britain's underwater capability until beyond the next decade.

Minister for Defence Procurement, Lord Drayson said:

"HMS Talent is the third of four Trafalgar class submarines to complete this vital upgrade. Work carried out on HMS Talent and her sister ships under this programme - the largest ever carried out on UK attack submarines - will ensure these vessels continue to provide us with a swift and stealthy means of delivering conventional deterrence for many years to come.'

"This submarine now has a greatly enhanced combat capability giving her unparalleled freedom to operate worldwide and her newly installed combat system has shown remarkable capability in trials."

The submarine's new sonar, Sonar 2076, has the power equivalent to approximately 400 PCs and can precisely track the movement of small objects from hundreds of miles away. A good analogy for the system's performance is that if the submarine were in Winchester it would be able to track a bus going around Trafalgar Square in London.

Work on upgrading HMS Talent sustained more than 1,100 jobs at its peak, both at prime contractors DML in Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport and subcontractors around the UK, including BAE Systems.

BACKGROUND NOTES:

1. HMS Talent is a Trafalgar-class submarine, weighing 5,200 tonnes when dived. T-class submarines are equipped with the PWR1 reactor which needs refuelling on average twice during a submarine's service life, giving these boats unparalleled freedom to operate worldwide. They carry the Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missile (TLAM) as well as the Spearfish torpedo. Talent was built by Vickers SEL and launched in 1988.

2. Subcontractors involved in the work included BAE Systems, QinetiQ, Wellman Defence at Portsmouth, Strachan & Henshaw at Bristol, ULTRA Electronics in Middlesex, Thales Underwater Systems at Cheadle Heath and other UK sites, and NESL at Wolverhampton.

3. This package of work repeats upgrades that were successfully carried out on HMS Torbay and Trenchant. HMS Triumph is currently in the process of undergoing her upgrade.