It's official. I'm a Navy Nerd. Not only that but I love big complicated bits of engineering, and very few come as complicated as the Royal Navy's Astute Class hunter/killer subs.
They're the most powerful attack submarines ever built by Britain and can circumnavigate the world fully submerged. The nuclear reactor is designed to last the expected 25 year life span of the boat and these subs have been called the 'greatest threat to the Russian navy'. According to builders BAE, the Astute class has the most advanced sonar in the world and backing this claim up is how well the submarine did in a cat-and-mouse game with Virginia Class USS New Mexico at exercise Fellowship in 2012. Designed to test the submarines and their capabilities against each other, Astute more than held its own against its American equivelant.
Navy News - Reporting from the Fleet
Notice how in the above picture Reactor section D is opaque(classified).
The Astute class, Britain's advanced hunter killer
They're the most powerful attack submarines ever built by Britain and can circumnavigate the world fully submerged. The nuclear reactor is designed to last the expected 25 year life span of the boat and these subs have been called the 'greatest threat to the Russian navy'. According to builders BAE, the Astute class has the most advanced sonar in the world and backing this claim up is how well the submarine did in a cat-and-mouse game with Virginia Class USS New Mexico at exercise Fellowship in 2012. Designed to test the submarines and their capabilities against each other, Astute more than held its own against its American equivelant.
Navy News - Reporting from the Fleet
Notice how in the above picture Reactor section D is opaque(classified).
The Astute class, Britain's advanced hunter killer