Boltonian

HMS Ambush is the second of Britain's new Astute class submarines, which will be the most powerful submarines ever to be operated by the Royal Navy. HMS Astute and HMS Artful are other members of the class.

AMBUSH – A BAE SYSTEMS’ SUB IN THE SUBURBS!


The forward section of new Royal Navy submarine HMS Ambush goes past people's houses in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, the town where it is being built, as it goes to Devonshire Dock Hall - the largest shipbuilding complex of its kind in Europe.




The 235 tonne forward section of Ambush, the second of the Astute class submarines being built by BAE Systems in Barrow in Furness, North West England took to the road last Thursday, 11 May.

The massive steel construction, which is the height of a 4-storey house, was carried on a 48-wheeled Scheurerle transporter on the quarter of a mile journey from the Barrow site’s new assembly facility to the Devonshire Dock Hall where the hull of the 7,800 tonne first of class Astute nuclear-powered attack submarine is already complete.

The forward end construction will join 7 other sections of Ambush already being fitted out in the Devonshire Dock Hall - the largest shipbuilding complex of its kind in Europe. Covering an area of 25,000 square metres, the hall is some 51 metres high.

Astute-class submarines will be the most advanced and powerful the Royal Navy has ever operated and will play a key role in the UK’s defences for decades to come. They form part of a substantial modernisation programme, as outlined in the Government’s Defence Industrial Strategy, that will enhance the capability of the UK’s Royal Navy through its emphasis on fewer but more capable platforms.

The project is one of the most complex engineering challenges in the UK, involving the production of over 7,000 design drawings, 10,000 separate design and engineering requirements and the installation of 23,000 pipes. Each boat has a sonar suite which has the processing power of 200,000 laptop computers.

Once deployed, Astute class submarines are designed not to require refuelling throughout their service life – over 25 years – and can patrol for 90 days, remaining undetected thousands of miles from home and hundreds of metres underwater.

The pressure hull is a 97 metre long cylinder which, when submerged, must withstand pressure equivalent to 400 family saloon cars weighing down on every square metre of surface area.

Since a revised programme for the construction of the Astute class submarines was agreed with the UK Ministry of Defence, BAE Systems has met or exceeded every production milestone.

The first milestone for 2006 – bringing on line the switchboards which deliver electrical power to the submarine’s complex operational systems – was achieved last month some 18 days ahead of schedule.

The first Astute-class submarine is due to be launched in Summer 2007, and will be handed over to the UK Royal Navy in August 2008.



http://www.baesystems.com/newsroom/2...50506news5.htm

HistoricalDavid

Great, we will now have the best SSNs in the world - a whole four or five of them?

...'Powerful' submarine? How is a submarine's 'power' measured? Watts? People killed?

Typical British media language.

Amaterasu

any idea about the specs and weapons complement?

TopHatter

Dayum! That is something you just don't see every day

Can't imagine them doing that during the Cold War though


Hey, I wouldn't kick 'em out of bed for eatin' crackers!

Defcon 6

COMBAT SYSTEM

The Astute Combat Management System (ACMS) is being supplied by BAE Systems Insyte (formerly Alenia Marconi Systems) and is a development of the Submarine Command System (SMCS) currently in service in all classes of UK submarines. ACMS receives data from the sonars and other sensors and, through advanced algorithms and data handling, displays real time images on the command consoles. Factory Acceptance of the operational software was received from the Astute Prime Contract Office in July 2002.

EADS Defence & Security Systems Ltd and EADS Hagenuk Marinekommunikation were awarded the contract to provide the external communications systems for the Astute in August 2005.

MISSILES

The Astute will be equipped with the Tomahawk Block IV (Tactical Tomahawk) cruise missile from Raytheon fired from the 533mm torpedo tubes.

Tomahawk is equipped with the TERCOM Terrain Contour Mapping Assisted Inertial Navigation System. The Terrain Contour Mapping for use over land combines onboard radar altimeter measurements with terrain mapping data installed in the missile. Block II added Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) guidance. Block III improvements include an improved propulsion system and Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance capability. The GPS provides location and velocity data of the missile for precision targeting. Tomahawk has a range of up to 1,000 miles and a maximum velocity of 550mph. Block IV includes a two-way satellite link that allows reprogramming of the missile in flight and transmission of Battle Damage Indication (BDI) imagery.

TORPEDOES

Astute will have six 533mm torpedo tubes, and will be equipped with Spearfish torpedoes and mines. There is capacity for a total of 36 torpedoes and missiles. The Spearfish torpedo from BAE Systems is wire-guided with an active/passive homing head. The range is 65km at 60 knots. Spearfish is fitted with a directed energy warhead.

COUNTERMEASURES

The countermeasures suite will include decoys and Electronic Support Measures (ESM). The The ESM system is the Thales Sensors Outfit UAP(4). Outfit UAP(4) has two multi-function antenna arrays which are mounted on the two non-hull penetrating optronics masts from Thales (formerly Pilkington) Optronics and McTaggart Scott.

Astute Class submarines are to be fitted with the Royal Navy's new Eddystone Communications band Electronic Support Measures (CESM) system, also to be fitted to the Trafalgar Class submarines. The Eddystone system is being developed by DML of Devonport UK, with Argon ST of the USA. It will provide advanced communications, signal intercept, recognition, direction-finding and monitoring capability.

SENSORS

Astute is fitted with I-band navigation radars. The sonar is the Thales Underwater Systems (formerly Thomson Marconi Sonar) 2076 integrated passive/active search and attack sonar suite with bow, intercept, flank and towed arrays. Sonar 2076 is also being fitted on four Trafalgar class submarines.

Atlas Hydrographic will provide the DESO 25 high-precision echosounder, to be fitted on the Astute. DESO 25 is capable of precise depth measurements down to 10,000m.

Astute will have two non-hull penetrating CM010 optronic masts developed by Thales Optronics. McTaggart Scott will supply the masts. The CM010 mast includes thermal imaging, low light TV and colour CCD TV sensors.

Raytheon Systems Ltd has been contracted to provide the Successor IFF (identification, friend or foe) naval transponder system for the Astute class.

PROPULSION

The nuclear power will be provided by the Rolls-Royce PWR 2 pressurised water reactor. The long-life core fitted on the PWR 2 means that refuelling will not be necessary in the service life of the submarine. The other main items of machinery are two Alsthom turbines, and a single shaft with a Rolls-Royce pump jet propulsor, consisting of moving rotor blades within a fixed duct. There are two diesel alternators, one emergency drive motor and one auxiliary retractable propeller. CAE Electronics is to provide the digital, integrated controls and instrumentation system for steering, diving, depth control and platform management.

The PWR 2 second-generation nuclear reactor was developed for the Vanguard Class Trident submarines. Current generations of PWR would allow submarines to circumnavigate the world about 20 times, whereas the latest development of PWR would allow circumnavigation 40 times without refuelling. The major equipment components in the development of PWR 2 are the reactor pressure vessels from Babcock Energy, main coolant pumps from GEC and from Weir, and protection and control instrumentation from Siemens Plessey and Thorn Automation.

The Spearfish Heavyweight Torpedo in my informed opinion is superior to the the Mk. 48 and quite possibly the Mk 50/54.

Defcon 6

Actually HP

Amaterasu

Thanks for the info Defcon 6

HistoricalDavid

Er... how can a submarine's power be measured in horsepower?

If you're referring to the screws, that'll be shaft horsepower.

Defcon 6

You realize shaft HP is the same as HP? It just indicates that it's measured at the shaft rather than the engine or other apparatus.

But NO, I'm not refering to SHP. I'm refering to HP.

A SSN SeaWolf has about 52,000 HP. The HMS Invincible Class Aircraft Carrier has about 97,000 HP. A Los Angelos Class sub has a 26 MW reactor.

Watts can be converted to HP by the by,although that can sometimes be inaccurate.

The nuclear-powered Seawolf has a GE PWR S6W reactor system, two turbines rated 52,000hp (38.8MW), a pumpjet propulsor, a single shaft, and one secondary propulsion submerged motor.

Galrahn

Defcon,

I'm confused, are those figures for total power output capability for the reactors, or just to the Propulsion systems?

Anon

You can even convert HP to calories.

LOLOL...

HistoricalDavid

Yes, I know that.

And the difference in measuring can thus yield differences in the result.

Like this?



Defcon, perhaps I'm not as up with nautical lingo as you are, but wouldn't it make sense for the great British media to say, its REACTOR will be the most powerful ever operated by the RN...

PubFather

The British media would need to understand what it meant.. lol

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gunnut

It means what it means, the Astute class sub is the best attack boat ever for the Royal Navy, eclipsing all previous subs. You guys are trying to split hairs.

Defcon 6

Just the propulsion systems.