equipment / Submarine
Astute Class
The largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy, the Astute Class is submarine supremacy redefined!
Astute Class submarine
displacement
7,400 tonnes
length
97 metres
Speed
30 knots
Range
Unlimited
A growing fleet
The Royal Navy’s Astute Class will consist of seven nuclear-powered submarines. HMS Astute, Ambush, Artful, Audacious and Anson are all currently in active service and a further two boats – HMS Agincourt and HMS Agamemnon are under construction.
Reassuringly unseen
The Royal Navy’s Astute Class submarines are the first not to be fitted with traditional optical periscopes – instead, they utilise high specification video technology to scan the horizon. They are also the quietest submarines ever constructed, can circumnavigate the globe completely submerged, and are capable of producing their own oxygen and drinking water.
About the crew
Deployments on a submarine can vary in length with normal assignments lasting up to three years. Two “watches” onboard rotate shifts at sea to allow the vessel to operate continuously – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Crews may swap during port visits to allow for personnel time off.
Unrivalled range and precision
PRECISION
Devastating precision
The Tomahawk IV missile has immense range and in-flight versatility
Among the Astute Class’ formidable arsenal of weapons is the Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missile (TLAM), which allows the submarines to strike at ground targets hundreds of miles inland with pinpoint accuracy.
The Tomahawk IV is the latest version of the missile that has a longer range than its predecessors (well in excess of 1,000 miles) and can be re-directed at a new target mid-flight. It can also beam back images of the battlefield to its mother sub.
Capability
Anti-sub warfare
The heavyweight Spearfish torpedo destroys on impact or proximity
Also onboard the Astute Class of submarines is the lethal Spearfish torpedo. Weighing nearly two tonnes, this heavyweight torpedo can attack targets up to 14 miles away (which can increase to 30 miles at low speed) and is capable of blowing an enemy submarine clean out of the water.
Guided by either copper wire or inbuilt sonar, the Spearfish delivers 660lbs of explosive charge either when it impacts with the intended target or via an acoustic proximity fuse underneath.
Domination
Always one step ahead
Astute Class submarines utilise the latest technology to dominate the waters
The Command and Control System (CCS) receives information from a variety of on-board and external sensors, compiles an integrated tactical picture based on that sensor information, presents tactical information to the Command, and manages the firing and control of weapons. The CCS does not operate as a single system but as integrated network of systems exchanging date over the Combat System Network (CSN), providing resilience and integrity to support operations.
SMCS is the Command's primary combat management tool. It exchanges data with the submarine's Above Water Systems (AWS) and Under Water Surveillance (UWS) sensors, then compiles and manages the Tactical Data Picture based on this information. It also manages the firing of Spearfish torpedoes.
For detecting enemy vessels, the Astute Class is equipped with Sonar 2076 - an integrated passive/active search sonar suite with hull and towed arrays.
Units and squadrons
Discover the global operations and bases of the Royal Navy submarine units. Track our missions, explore facts and figures, and check our current and past deployment locations.
Join the Submarine Service
Life under the ocean isn’t for the faint-hearted. You’ll be pushed to your limits, but you’ll be rewarded for it too.