First look at Royal Navy’s incredible new £1BILLION nuclear submarine HMS Audacious which can hit targets with pinpoint accuracy from 745 miles away and travel the world without surfacing
Giant 7,400-tonne vessel leaves Devonshire Dock Hall ahead of taking to water for first time
THE ROYAL Navy’s latest billion pound nuclear submarine edges out of dry dock as it prepares to take to the water for the first time.
HMS Audacious carries Tomahawk missiles capable of hitting targets 745 miles away with pinpoint accuracy.
The 318 ft long attack sub can circumnavigate the entire globe without surfacing.
And unlike traditional submarines it is not fitted with periscopes. Images are instead delivered to the Control Room via fibre-optic cables.
The 7,400-tonne BAE Systems-built vessel is the fourth of seven Astute class submarines and is also armed with Spearfish torpedoes.
It left the giant Devonshire Dock Hall in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria yesterday ahead of its floating out ceremony today.
A spokesperson for manufacturers BAE Systems explained: “First she will go in the water for the first time, then she will take her first dive. The Royal Navy will take her on some trials and will decide where she will be moved to or stationed next.”
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“The next big milestone will be when she leaves Barrow which we expect will be in around a year.”
More than 39,000 acoustic tiles mask the vessel's sonar signature, meaning she slips through the seas with less noise than a baby dolphin.
Yet her sonar is said to be so powerful it can detect ships leaving harbour in New York City from a listening point below the waters of the English Channel, 3,000 nautical miles away.
It comes amid claims a crisis looms over the entire project because of delays in the construction of a dry dock to repair the fleet.
The Sunday Times claimed the Navy's ability to deploy the submarines is at risk because of delays in the building of a dry dock to deal with significant repairs.
Construction of the dock, earmarked for Devonport naval base in Plymouth, is estimated to cost £1bn but is at least a year overdue, according to insiders.
The first submarine in the class, HMS Astute, which launched in 2010, is due for an overhaul early next decade.
HMS Ambush, another Astute, crashed last July and is being repaired in the water at Gibraltar.
The Ministry of Defence said: "There is no delay. We continue to explore options for future submarine docking requirements at Devonport.
“No decisions have been taken and the Royal Navy's ability to deploy Astute class submarines remains unaffected."
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