Bae Systems suppliers to earn GBP 1.6 billion from Astute class submarine contracts

BAE Systems is building seven submarines in the Astute Class. The programme employs more than 5,000 BAE Systems people and involves 1,200 supplier companies. Activity on the first three boats alone is delivering £1.6 billion into the supply chain. Each Astute submarine is 97 metres long and fuelled by a nuclear reactor powerful enough to power a city the size of Southampton. The boats are armed with a mix of Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, and their sonar suites have the processing power of 2,000 laptops. The first boat, HMS Astute, left Barrow for her operational base of Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, at Faslane, Scotland, in November 2009, and was officially commissioned into the Royal Navy in August this year. Boat three, Artful, is now well advanced following the integration of the Command Deck Module earlier this year. The final butt weld followed this to form a complete hull and outfitting of the vessel continues. Construction of major steelwork for the fourth boat in Class, Audacious, continues after its keel was laid in 2009. In addition, early build phases have begun on boat five, and long lead items, including the reactor core, has been ordered for boat six. HMS Astute is currently undergoing inspection at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, in Faslane, Scotland, following her grounding in the Kyle of Lochalsh, on October 22.