Astute-class submarine

The Astute class is the latest class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy. The boats are constructed by BAE Systems Submarines at Barrow-in-Furness. Seven boats will be constructed: the first of class, Astute, was launched by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in 2007, commissioned in 2010, and declared fully operational in May 2014. The Astute class is the replacement for the Trafalgar-class fleet submarines in Royal Navy service.

The Astute-class programme began in February 1986 when the Ministry of Defence (MOD) launched a number of studies intended to determine the capabilities and requirements for the replacement of its Swiftsure and Trafalgar-class fleet submarines. These studies, called project SSN20, were conducted during the Cold War, when the Royal Navy maintained a strong emphasis on anti-submarine warfare to counter increasingly capable Soviet submarines. To match this growing threat, the studies concluded that project SSN20 should be a revolutionary design, with significantly enhanced nuclear propulsion and firepower, and a more sophisticated "integrated sonar suite" and combat systems. Similarly, the United States Navy, which was facing the same threats, went on to design and build the Seawolf class. The estimated costs of project SSN20, although great, were not considered a "constraint".

However, by 1990 the Berlin Wall had fallen and the Cold War came to an end. Project SSN20 was promptly cancelled and a new set of design studies were started, this time, with "cost control" as a key objective. The Trafalgar class had been an evolved derivative of the preceding Swiftsure class, and in order to reduce cost and technical risk it was concluded that this new class of fleet submarine should "build upon" the Trafalgar design. This became known as the Batch 2 Trafalgar class (B2TC), with approval for the studies phase given in June 1991. While the philosophy behind B2TC was that of a modern and improved Trafalgar, early design concepts of B2TC were also heavily influenced by the then under construction Vanguard class, in particular its nuclear steam raising plant (NSRP).

Following two years of a studies phase on B2TC, the MOD issued a draft invitation to tender in October 1993 and a final invitation to tender in July 1994. The final invitation to tender involved a formal competition between GEC-Marconi/BMT Limited and VSEL/Rolls-Royce, with bids to be submitted in June 1995. GEC-Marconi and BMT had little experience with British submarine designs, whereas VSEL and Rolls-Royce were heavily involved in both British nuclear submarine design and construction.

During the assessment phase of the bids put forward by both teams, the MOD favoured the GEC-Marconi/BMT design on both cost and capability grounds. The bid put forward by VSEL/Rolls-Royce was less attractive and considered "an expensive and dull design." In June 1995, VSEL was subject to a takeover by GEC-Marconi, and with it, the Barrow shipyard. In December of the same year, the MOD announced that GEC-Marconi was the preferred bidder. The bid put forward by GEC-Marconi included the innovative use of 3D CAD software and modular construction techniques. Although the MOD had awarded the contract to GEC-Marconi, partly due to its competitive cost, it was still considered too high for the MOD to sign off on. The MOD and GEC-Marconi negotiated on a new price for the contract, amounting to £2.4 billion for the first three Astute submarines, plus in-service support. The contract was signed on 14 March 1997, for what was now called the Astute programme, with a fixed maximum price, and any cost overruns being assumed by GEC-Marconi, the contractor.

Although B2TC was intended to be a modest improvement over the Trafalgar class, it was not to be the case for Astute. With the signing of the contract in March 1997, GEC-Marconi started work on developing a complete and comprehensive design for the Astute programme. Initial realisation was that the size of the Rolls-Royce PWR2 required a much larger boat (beam and length) and significantly improved acoustic quieting. A new understanding was reached between the MOD and GEC-Marconi that this would be an entirely new class, and far more complex than originally envisioned.

In November 1999, British Aerospace purchased GEC-Marconi and created BAE Systems. At the time of the takeover, it had been approximately 20 years since the Vanguard class was designed, and the last of the boats had already been launched. The workforce at the Barrow shipyard had fallen from around 13,000 to 3,000. Key skills in design and engineering had been lost, predominantly through retirement or movement into other careers. This created significant delays and challenges in getting the Astute programme from design phase and into construction phase. Further delays and cost increases were also caused by the 3D CAD software, despite originally being touted as an innovative cost saving measure, by greatly reducing man-hours. However, one of the reasons for this was a lack of experienced designers able to use the software and its expanded tools.

Despite numerous difficulties, including incomplete design drawings, the first boat, Astute, was laid down on 31 January 2001. As planned, modular construction methods were used, with the boat being built in several ring-like modules, each up to several metres in length. These were welded together using specially designed high-strength steel, and then fitted out. From boat 2 onward however, vertical outfitting has been used, whereby the ring-like sections are "stood up on their ends." This has better enabled the fitting of large and heavy equipment, and has also proved to be more efficient, with reportedly "thousands of man-hours saved". The class is the first nuclear submarine to be designed entirely using 3D computer software.