The Astute-class submarine is the last submarine in the British Navy, built by BAE Systems for $2.4 billion each. It is a nuclear-powered attack submarine with a displacement of 7,800 tons, length of 97 m, and a test depth of 300 m. The Astute class was developed to replace the aging Swiftsure class of attack submarines.
The Astute-class submarine is the last submarine in the British Navy, as of 2007. This massive submarine has a whale-like appearance and is nuclear-powered, requiring not a single refueling during its 25-year life. However, it is not unique in this respect.
The Astute-class submarine is built by BAE Systems in the town of Barrow-in-Furness on the central west coast of Great Britain. The submarines will cost about 2.4 billion US dollars (USD) each. The Astute class are attack submarines, in contrast to ballistic missile submarines such as the Vanguard class.
In US Navy parlance, the Astute is an SSN, meaning ship submersible (SS), nuclear-powered submarine (N). SSNs are known as “attacker” or “hunter/killer” submarines and their primary purpose is to find and destroy enemy submarines and surface vessels to protect the surface fleet. The Astute class was developed to replace the aging Swiftsure class of attack submarines. A couple of the newer Trafalgar class also need to be replaced.
In 1997 the UK announced it was contracting with BAE Systems to build 3 Astute submarines which ultimately ended up costing $4 billion USD after a $2.2 billion USD cost overrun, and more recently contracted to four more for an additional cost of ~$9 billion US DOLLAR. To visualize the cost of the Astute, imagine building a 30-story skyscraper with a thick military-grade steel hull, fill it with some of the most expensive communications, stealth, and weapons technology known to man, and make it capable of diving up to 300 m (984 ft) of water, where the pressure is 30 times that at sea level, with negligible risk of hull rupture. The Astute is equipped with a nuclear reactor, four giant turbines, 100 km (62 miles) of cables and 10 km (6.2 miles) of pipelines for over a million components in total. Modern submarines are expensive.
Here are some statistics on the Astute. The submarines have a displacement of 7,800 tons, length of 97 m (323 ft), hull diameter of 11.3 m (37 ft), height of 10 m (33 ft), speed of 29 knots (54 km /h or 37 mph) and a test depth (maximum peacetime immersion) of 300 m (984 ft). In the Royal Navy, the test depth is approximately 4/7ths of the crush depth, we can estimate the crush depth at 525m (1,722ft) below the surface. The Astute normally has a complement of 98 officers and men, but a capacity of 109.
The Astute class is 30% larger than the UK’s previous nuclear attack submarines, ending the process of ‘hot bunking’ whereby men on opposite shifts have to share the same berth. The first three Astute submarines to be built are HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful.
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