Astute class submarine

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United Kingdom
Astute class submarine (artist's conception)
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceding class:	Swiftsure-class
In service:	2009 (planned)
Ships in Class
Ships building:	Astute, Ambush, Artful
General Characteristics
Class type:	Nuclear-powered attack submarine
Displacement:	7,800 tonnes submerged
Length:	97 m (323 ft)
Beam:	11.3 m (37 ft)
Draught:	10 m (33 ft)
Propulsion and power:	Rolls-Royce PWR2 reactor (with full submarine life core), MAN (Paxman) 1900 kilowatt diesel generator
Speed:	29 knots (54 km/h) submerged
Test depth:	300 m
Complement:	98 officers and men normally, capacity of 109
Armament:	six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 38 Spearfish torpedoes, UGM-84 Harpoon and Tomahawk Block III cruise missiles, naval mines
Sensors:	Thales Underwater Systems Sonar 2076 Atlas Hydrographic DESO 25 depth-finding echosounder Two Thales Optronics CM010 periscopes Raytheon Systems Ltd Successor IFF system

The Astute class submarines are the next generation nuclear attack submarines of the Royal Navy. When completed, the boats will comprise the largest nuclear-powered attack submarines the service has fielded.

[edit] Background

As the Swiftsure-class submarines aged, the Royal Navy began to design their replacements. The original design called for large submarines designed for blue-water operations. Feasibility studies began in 1986 and were completed by 1989. A design contract was placed with Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. (VSEL) in 1987, but with the end of the Cold War the project was cancelled in 1992. Emphasis switched to the production of a second batch of Trafalgar-class submarines (Batch 2 Trafalgar Class or B2TC). However the development was extremely slow and initial tenders received from VSEL in June 1995 were too expensive.

Meanwhile, the Royal Navy has changed its submarine-employment strategy from the Cold War emphasis on anti-submarine warfare to the concept of "Maritime Contributions to Joint Operations." The proposed replacement boats were redesigned; the primary mission of the Astute class became direct support of surface forces.

Original plans were for seven boats of the Astute class to replace five Swiftsure-class submarines (Sovereign, Superb, Sceptre, Spartan, and Splendid) and the two oldest Trafalgar-class boats (Trafalgar and Turbulent). Plans, however, have been scaled back. The Swiftsure-class will be entirely decommissioned by 2010, when only the first of the Astute-class will be coming into service. HMS Trafalgar is to be decommissioned in 2008, followed by HMS Turbulent in 2011.

On March 26, 1997, an order was placed with GEC-Marconi Limited (now BAE Systems Submarines) for the first three boats: Astute, Ambush, and Artful. These names were last given to Amphion-class submarines that entered service towards the end of World War II.

The Astute class was expected to be built roughly one-fifth more quickly than earlier boats, with lower running costs and a much smaller ship’s company. In the event however the programme has slipped by 4 years and has a predicted cost overrun of £1 billion [1], and required a U.S. engineering management team from the Electric Boat Corporation to be brought in to resolve programme problems [2]. The UK House of Commons Defence Committee, in July 2004, estimated the cost of Astute as £3,498 million compared to £2,578 million approved at Main Gate.[3] Furthermore they noted that the predicted in-service date was January 2009 compared to the date of June 2005 approved at Main Gate.

Astute-class boats will be powered by a Rolls-Royce PWR2 reactor and fitted with a pump-jet propulsor. The PWR2 reactor was developed for Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines. As a result Astute-class boats are about 30 per cent larger than previous British attack submarines, which were powered by smaller reactors. It will be the first Royal Navy submarine class to have a bunk for each member of the ship's company, ending the practice of 'hot bunking', whereby two sailors on opposite watches shared the same bunk.

Like all Royal Navy submarines, the fin of the Astute-class boats will be reinforced to allow surfacing through ice caps. They can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles from their launch tubes, including the new "tactical Tomahawk" currently under development. According to the MOD around 5,500 people are presently employed in the Astute building programme. BAE Systems has recently indicated that the Astute submarine project has maintained its significantly improved performance,with all the key milestones for the first six months of 2006,being achieved on or ahead of plan.

As of 28 August 2006 BAE are currently negotiating for a contract to build another four Astute class submarines. [4] British Armed Forces Minister, Adam Ingram, has announced a further advance in the Astute Class submarine programme, with preparations for a further SSN underway. The Minister told MPs

We are working with industry as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy to achieve an affordable and sustainable submarine programme. In support of this we have ordered long-lead items for Boat Four.