Astute-class

The Royal Navy’s stealthy nuclear-powered fleet attack submarine — armed with Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes and Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, sheathed in some 39,000 anechoic tiles and propelled by a pump-jet for near-silent, long-endurance patrols.

Overview

The Astute class is the United Kingdom’s latest nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN), designed for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, precision land attack, intelligence gathering and special-forces support. Each boat displaces 7,400 tonnes submerged and carries up to 38 heavy weapons in six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. The class is the Royal Navy’s premier underwater strike asset, replacing the Trafalgar class and extending the UK’s global submarine reach.

Development

The Astute programme was launched to replace the Trafalgar-class SSNs, with the first boat ordered in 1997. HMS Astute was laid down in 2001, launched in 2007 and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 2010, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. The project suffered well-documented cost overruns and delays, with early boats arriving years later than planned and above original budget projections. Ultimately a seven-boat programme was authorised: six had been commissioned by early 2026 — Astute, Ambush, Artful, Audacious, Anson and Agamemnon — while the seventh, Agincourt, is under construction at BAE Systems’ Barrow-in-Furness yard.

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