Audacious Killer: British Royal Navy Receives New Astute Class Nuclear Attack Submarine

Th British Royal Navy has launched a new Astute Class nuclear attack submarine the HMS Audacious, which left the Barrow-in-Furness shipyards on April 7th on its maiden voyage to be received at Naval Base Clyde. Costing approximately $2 billion, the warship is one of the most expensive ever built by a European state and benefits from integration of a range of next generation technologies - most notably 39,000 anti-acoustic tiles which make it extremely difficult to detect by reducing noise. The Audacious is one of seven Astute Class ships planned - the fourth to be completed - and makes use of a nuclear propulsion system providing an effectively unlimited range. With a crew of 98, Astute Class ships can operate at depths of up to 390 meters and travel at 32 kn speeds when fully submerged. The warships deploy two primary classes of weapon, the ageing Tomahawk subsonic cruise missile and the slightly newer Spearfish torpedo. Both of these weapons systems are expected to be replaced during the ship’s service life. The Astute Class ships are being commissioned to replace ageing Trafalgar Class attack submarines, a design dating back to the early 1980s of which three are currently in service. The new submarine program has faced considerable cost overruns and delays, with the manufacturer BAE Systems and the British Ministry of Defence admitting that they have understated the technical challenges and costs of the program forcing the two parties to renegotiate the contract. The HMS Audacious is approximately 16% over budget - a considerable improvement on its three predecessors which were on average 58% over budget.