A fearsome new predator enters the sea as our latest £1.6billion Astute-class stealth sub makes its maiden voyage.
Nuclear-powered attack vessel HMS Audacious is 320ft long and bristling with Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
But while weighing 7,400 tons its 39,000 anti-acoustic tiles mean it glides through the water more silently than any other submarine.
And with its reactor recycling air and water, it can circumnavigate the globe without surfacing.
HMS Audacious is the fourth Astute-class sub completed out of a planned seven and will help combat the increasing threat of Russian incursions in our waters and airspace.
Images from Monday show HMS Audacious leaving Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, where it was built by BAE, for Her Majesty’s Naval Base, Clyde, home of the Submarine Service.
- The sonar system on Astute-class submarines can detect ships up to 3,000 nautical miles away – the distance between the English Channel and New York.
- HMS Audacious carries Spearfish torpedoes for dealing with enemy submarines and warships, and Tomahawk cruise missiles for targeting land threats.
- The subsonic Tomahawk missiles can hit targets that are more than 1,000 miles way.
- HMS Audacious can deploy Special Boat Service teams, launching them from underwater.
- The submarine’s nuclear reactor has a 25-year life.
Ian Booth, head of the Submarine Delivery Agency, said: “The departure of HMS Audacious from Barrow is a milestone in the Astute-class programme.
“The delivery of our incredibly complex submarine programmes depends on the skilled workforce and close collaboration with our industrial partners to deliver a first-class product for the Royal Navy.”
The first three Astute-class submarines – HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful – are already in service.
The next three are in various stages of construction at the yard in Barrow-in-Furness.
