New British Submarine
By JustCool on Jan 7, 2008 in Cool Stuff
She is four years late and a massive 900 million over-budget. But when the Royal Navy‘s super-sub HMS Astute finally arrived, she made for an awesome sight.
More complex than the space shuttle, and able to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing, the 7,400-ton monster is the largest and deadliest hunter-killer submarine ever built.
As long as a football field, at 318 ft, and as wide as four double-decker buses, HMS Astute is a third longer than any sub which has gone before.
Her nuclear-powered engine will propel her through the water at more than 20 knots, yet the UK’s first stealth sub makes less noise than a baby dolphin, making her as good as undetectable by enemy ships.
Astute’s sonar is so advanced that if she was lying in the English Channel she would be able to detect ships leaving New York harbor 3,000 nautical miles away (although the details of how she can do this are classified).
The nuclear reactor will never need refueling, and with an ability to make oxygen and drinking water out of sea water, the sub could stay underwater for its entire 25-year life span were it not for the needs of the crew.
Once she goes into operation in 2009, Astute will carry a 98-man crew and stay at sea for 12 weeks on a routine patrol.
Technorati Tags: british submarine, hms astute, nuclear submarine
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