Ramona Adams
BAE Systems has unveiled the fourth Astute-class attack submarine that the company built for the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy.
The nuclear-powered submarine named Audacious was lowered into the dock water at BAE’s Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria site to undergo the next phase of test and commissioning ahead of sea trials in 2018, the company said Friday.
Astute-class submarines are equipped with nuclear reactors, sonar functions, Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk land attack missiles and are designed to engage targets up to 621 miles from the coast, BAE noted.
The first three submarines in the class dubbed HMS Astute, HMS Ambush and HMS Artful are now in service and the final three following Audacious are at different stages of construction at BAE’s Barrow facility.
BAE also leads the Royal Navy’s Dreadnought nuclear deterrent submarine program which began construction in 2016.
