From Defense Aerospace

 

30 Day Countdown Begins For Launch of First Astute Submarine

(Source: Royal Navy; issued May 8, 2007)

 

Four years late, and $1.8 billion over budget, the Royal Navy’s Astute-lass nuclear attack submarine will finally go afloat on June 8.

 

The Royal Navy’s largest and most powerful attack submarine, the first-of-class Astute, is now entering the final stages of preparation for the launch which will take place at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness on 8th June, 2007.

 

With just one month to go before the submarine emerges from the 25,000m² Devonshire Dock Hall build facility, much of the hull is still shrouded in coverings to allow work to continue on applying more than 39,000 acoustic tiles that will mask the vessel’s sonar signature but and help to make Astute the most stealthy submarine ever operated by the Royal Navy.

 

Commodore Steve Lloyd, Director of the Defence Equipment and Support Submarine Production Team said; “Work is on schedule to deliver the first of the Astute class to the Royal Navy in August 2008 with an in-service date of January 2009.”

 

Design and construction of the Astute Class is the most challenging engineering project in the UK and has been described as “more complex than the space shuttle”, involving over 1 million components and the production of over 7,000 design drawings.

 

The Astute class is the largest, most capable and widely deployable attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy. It has improved communications systems to support joint operations and an enhanced ability to operate in shallower littoral environments compared with previous classes.

 

As well as supporting the deterrent, Astute is designed to undertake a range of other tasks including support of land forces, land attack using Tomahawk cruise missiles, and intelligence gathering. Once deployed, Astute is designed not to require refuelling throughout her full service life - in excess of 25 years - and can patrol for 90 days, remaining undetected thousands of miles from home and hundreds of metres underwater.

 

BAE Systems Submarine Solutions is the prime contractor for the Astute Class of nuclear-powered submarine, responsible for the design, build and initial in-service support of the three 7,800 tonne vessels - Astute, Ambush and Artful - currently under construction at the shipyard.

 

 

(EDITOR’S NOTE: According to the Daily Telegraph, May 9 edition, the Astute-class SSNs have the following capabilities:

- It will be able to sit off coasts undetected listening in to mobile phone conversations;

- It can insert Special Forces by mini submersibles into enemy territory;

- It is armed with 38 Tomahawk cruise missiles and/or Spearfish torpedoes;

- It will carry the latest Block 4 Tomahawk cruise missile, which can loiter over a target and can be reprogrammed in mid-flight by commanders. "It can also find out what is going on and report back to op commanders without anyone knowing we have been there."

- It is the first submarine not to have a conventional periscope. Instead a fibre optic tube - equipped with infra red and thermal imaging - pops above the surface for three seconds, does one rotation and then feeds an image in colour that can be studied at leisure.

- Its nuclear power plant has the acoustic signature of a torch battery and is the size of a family car.) (ends)

 

Countdown Begins to Astute Launch

(Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued May 8, 2007)

 

The Royal Navy's largest and most powerful attack submarine was unveiled today, Tuesday 8 May 2007, one month before its launch, and one year before it heads to its base port at HM Naval Base Clyde.

 

HMS Astute, the first of her Class, is being built at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria and will be launched on 8 June 2007. Although still shrouded in coverings to allow work to continue on applying more than 39,000 acoustic tiles, she is still an awesome sight, almost half again as big as the Royal Navy's current fleet of attack boats.

 

The tiles will mask her sonar signature and will make Astute the most stealthy attack submarine ever operated by the Royal Navy. However that's not the only amazing fact about what is a truly amazing submarine:

 

- She will never need to be refuelled – her one nuclear reactor has been designed to serve for the boat's 25 year operational life

 

- Despite her size, she can operate closer to shore, providing huge firepower for shore based operations

 

- Again, although she is bigger, she has a smaller crew – and for the first time, each crewman will get his own bed instead of hot-bunking

 

- Her design is more complex than the Space Shuttle

 

- She can circumnavigate the planet without surfacing – in fact, she is faster under water than on the surface

 

- Her captain sleeps only 10 metres away from her nuclear core – which is more complicated than a nuclear power station.

 

 

Astute will be followed in a 22-month rolling programme by Ambush and Artful – at a total cost of £3.6 billion. All three, along with subsequent boats, will be based at HM Naval Base Clyde, where work has already started on the construction of a £150 million state-of-the-art jetty, named the Valiant Jetty, which will be home to the boats. HMS Astute is due to arrive at the Base next Easter after a year of trials (technically she does not become an HMS until after her formal launch).

 

The Astute Programme Director at HM Naval Base Clyde, Captain Peter Merriman, said:

 

"Astute will be the largest, most capable and widely deployable attack submarine ever operated by the Royal Navy. She is designed to undertake a wide range of tasks, including support of land forces and land attack using Tomahawk cruise missiles."

 

Specialist engineering involves:

 

- Nuclear engineering: providing safety and performance improvements to a state-of-the-art pressurised water reactor that is fuelled for life

- Systems engineering: integrating the thousands of sub-systems that require up to 100km of cabling, 23,000 pipes amounting to10km of pipework, and over 5 million lines of software code – plus managing the supply chain, which consists of over 30 main suppliers

- Marine and mechanical engineering: providing solutions for the propulsive power train, auxiliary systems and life support. Astute must be quiet, vibration free and robust enough to withstand a nearby underwater explosion

- Hydrodynamics and control engineering: the design of the submarine hull, hydroplanes and control systems to provide control of depth and good manoeuvrability. The submarine must maintain neutral buoyancy and is literally 'flown' underwater

- Human factors: ensuring that every system is safely operable and maintainable in all conditions by a relatively small complement compared with previous nuclear powered submarines.

From thisislondon.co.uk

 

London, Friday 08.06.07

Britain launches nuclear sub that can hear a ship from across the Atlantic

08.06.07

 

The first of the UK's new generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines has been unveiled in Cumbria by the Duchess of Cornwall.

 

Due to enter service in 2009, BAE Systems' Astute is the most advanced submarine of its kind and comes bristling with the very latest in military technology.

 

BAE said: "With a radar signature equivalent to a dolphin, it can remain undetected thousands of miles from home and hundreds of metres underwater.

 

"In the right conditions it can detect the QE2 leaving New York harbour from the English Channel."

 

Plated in specially-designed acoustic tiles that minimize its signature as it glides through the water the Astute is ideal for top-secret covert operations across the globe.

 

It will be able to remain hundreds of metres under water for up to 90 days at a time while keeping its 98-strong crew safe as they sleep, eat and breath within metres of a nuclear power plant.

 

Astute has more firepower than any previous attack sub. Its Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles are capable of delivering pin-point strikes from 2,000km (1,240 miles).

 

It has also replaced the conventional periscope with a series of communications masts which transmit data to and from the command deck.

 

Inside the Astute class submarine

 

 

However, its key asset is its stealth. Even with a nuclear reactor and four powerful turbines propelling it through the water, less than one watt of power is radiated, making it incredibly quiet.

 

Its nuclear reactor means that it will never need to be refuelled in its 25-year lifetime.

 

It can also generate its own air and water so it is able to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing.

 

The submarine - almost half as big again as the Royal Navy's current fleet of attack boats - is one of three under construction at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness.

 

Last month, the Ministry of Defence ordered a fourth submarine at a cost of £200 million, which will be called HMS Audacious, to join Astute, Ambush and Artful.

 

In a break from tradition, there was no "splash" as the vessel hit the water.

 

It is actually on a huge mechanical trolley, moving at a metre a minute, and will take three hours to clear the hall and only be lowered into the water tomorrow.

 

Camilla was also presented with a Retriever puppy - a retriever is on the crest of HMS Astute - which will be donated as a guide dog for the blind.