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Bullet pointBullet pointBullet point   HMS Astute launched   Bullet pointBullet pointBullet point

Adapted from a BBC online article : June 8, 2007

The Royal Navy's latest nuclear submarine has been launched by the Duchess of Cornwall, almost four years behind schedule.

Map of Flakland Isllands

ASTUTE FACTS AND FIGURES

  • Size: 97m (318ft) long, 11.2m (36.7ft) wide, 7,400 metric tonnes (8,157 tons) - 25% heavier and 30% longer than Trafalgar class
  • Firepower: Six Spearfish torpedo tubes, 38 Tomahawk cruise missiles
  • Top speed underwater: Undisclosed, but Royal Navy says above 20 knots
  • Maximum diving depth: Undisclosed, but Royal Navy says more than 150m (492ft)
  • Number of crew: 98 compared with 115 on Trafalgar, with better facilities
  • Latest technology: Two masts carrying thermal imaging and low-light cameras replace periscope; images can be captured and transmitted to other fleets; advanced sonar
  • Fuel: Complex pressurised water reactor powers submarine for full service life
  • Other vessels in class: Ambush, Artful, Audacious.

    • Detailed image of the Astute submarine - (Bae Systems) [2.01MB]

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  Artist's impresson of HMS Astute
 
Artist's impression of an Astute Class Submarine that has dived. (Source: BAE Systems)

HMS Astute is the first of four new vessels that will be the UK's largest and most powerful attack submarines. Defence minister Lord Drayson called it "a truly remarkable vessel, and her importance cannot be underestimated".

Astute was launched at the BAE Systems shipyard in Barrow, Cumbria. BAE Systems says the project is more technologically complex than the space shuttle. Each of the four new Astute Class vessels will weigh the same as 1,000 double-decker buses.

The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, described them as "immensely powerful". He said: "They will form a key part of our future programme, giving the Royal Navy the versatility and technical excellence needed to operate successfully across the globe in decades to come."

Astute will become HMS Astute when she enters service in 2009. She will create her own oxygen and fresh water from seawater and will be armed with Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting a target 2,000km inland.

Along with the three other Astute Class vessels - Ambush, Artful and Audacious - she will be commissioned for 25 years.

This is the first time that Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, has launched a vessel.

 

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