HMS Audacious (S122)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Audacious.

300px Audacious under construction in Barrow-in-Furness in July 2013
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Audacious
Ordered:	May 2007
Builder:	BAE Systems Submarine Solutions
Laid down:	24 March 2009
Identification:	Pennant number: S122
Status:	Under construction
Badge:	100px
General characteristics
Class & type:	Astute-class submarine
Displacement:	7,400 tonnes, submerged
Length:	97 m (318 ft)
Beam:	11.3 m (37 ft)
Draught:	10 m (33 ft)
Propulsion:	Rolls-Royce PWR 2 reactor, MTU 600 kilowatt diesel generators
Speed:	Up to 30 knots (56 km/h), submerged
Range:	Only limited by food and maintenance requirements.
Complement:	98 (capacity for 109)
Sensors and processing systems:	Thales Sonar 2076 Atlas DESO 25 echosounder 2 × Thales CM010 optronic masts Raytheon Successor IFF
Armament:	6 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes with stowage for up to 38 weapons: Tomahawk Block IV land-attack missiles Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes

HMS Audacious is the fourth Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy. Several previous vessels of the Royal Navy have borne the name. Long lead items for her construction were ordered on 28 August 2006 although the actual order was not placed until 21 May 2007. She was nearly halfway through her build programme as of December 2012.

Some aspects of the later Astute class submarines will be different from boats 1-3, mostly related to the combat system—primarily the command, navigation and sonar systems. This is the first Royal Navy submarine which uses a shared computer environment for the different systems, common consoles and cabinets, and commercial "off-the-shelf" hardware and software, to reduce costs and improve maintainability. These changes have been back-fitted to boat 3, Artful; the eventual aim is to back-fit the "Common Combat System" to HMS Astute and Ambush, and progressively to the rest of the Royal Navy submarine fleet.

Design

Nuclear power

Audacious's nuclear reactor will not need to be refuelled during the boat's 25-year service. Since the submarine can purify water and air, she will be able to circumnavigate the planet without resurfacing. The main limit is that the submarine will only be able to carry three months' supply of food for 98 officers and ratings.

Weapons

Audacious will have provision for up-to 38 weapons in six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes:

• Tomahawk Block IV land-attack missiles - range of 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometres)
• Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes

External links

• Royal Navy HMS Audacious (royalnavy.mod.uk)
• Astute Class (naval-technology.com)