The future of Royal Navy attack submarines
On 6th February the Minister for Defence Procurement confirmed in Parliament that all 7 Astute class submarines would be completed by the end of 2026, despite the serious delay to the delivery of HMS Audacious. Here we look at the submarine programme in the medium-long term.
Trenchant lives on
The problems with HMS Audacious have been well documented and she will join the fleet sometime in early 2021, at least 17 months later than planned. This has had two immediate consequences, firstly the delivery of boat 5, HMS Anson will be delayed and secondly, it has been confirmed that HMS Trenchant will remain in service for at least another year. Trenchant was launched in 1986 and this 34-year old must be close to the end of viable operation. With an eye to the problems with the Astute programme, Trenchant underwent a 3-year refit 2013-16 described as “largest and most complex ever undertaken at Devonport” which should see her through this extra time in service. Although far from ideal, this is a sensible decision which at least ensures SSN numbers do not go below the already ‘rock-bottom’ number of 6. There will undoubtedly be additional maintenance costs involved and her ships company will have to work hard to keep this veteran boat going. It looks likely that the two other Trafalgar class boats, HMS Talent and Triumph may also have to have their decommissioning delayed slightly to cover the late arrival of HMS Anson and Agamemnon.
Continues at:
https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/the-fu ... VWIm51U1vw