Last Sunday, the 27th of June, 2010 (9 p.m.) will ever remain a memorable day for TV viewers in Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom as they were given a fascinating insight into the design and construction of the Astute class submarines in a BBC2 documentary titled: How to build . . . a nuclear submarine (9pm).
BAE Systems has for the past 18 months worked with a BBC camera crew at its Submarine Solutions site to film exclusive, behind the scenes footage of one of the world's most intriguing and covert engineering projects.
The hour-long documentary took viewers on a journey of construction, starting with the design of what are the largest and most powerful attack submarines ever ordered by the Royal Navy, right up to the beginning of the first of class Astute's sea trials.
BAE Systems is the prime contractor for the new class of submarines, constructing them at its site in Barrow-in-Furness. The documentary focuses mainly on the first, Astute, but features boats two, three and four as well - Ambush, Artful and Audacious.
The documentary also turned the spotlight on the people behind the project, including Managing Director John Hudson.
He said: "The Astute programme is one of the world's most demanding engineering projects, and having the cameras there to capture the complexity and scale of the challenge will help demonstrate to the viewing public what a highly-skilled operation submarine design and build is.
"There's a fantastic spread of talent right across our workforce, from leading edge engineers to highly-skilled craftsmen, and the pride, skills and commitment each of them demonstrates will hopefully be reflected in the documentary."
Documentary producer Steve Crabtree, who worked in the Barrow shipyard before pursuing a career in TV, added: "I am really thrilled that this documentary has finally been made and about to transmit on BBC2. Ever since I left the shipyard I have wanted to tell the amazing story of what the skilled people of Barrow are capable of; and I hope everyone who watches it feels proud of what the town is able to produce - one of the world's most complicated machines, a nuclear submarine."
When complete, each Astute class submarine weighs 7,400 tonnes, is powered by a nuclear reactor that never needs to be refueled in its 25-year life, boasts one of the world's most advanced sonar systems, accommodates a Royal Navy crew of 98 men and incorporates over a million components and 10km of pipe work.
Facts You Should Know About Astute
- The ASTUTE Submarine is more complex than the space shuttle.
- Advanced nuclear technology means she will never need to be refuelled.
- ASTUTE's Sonar 2076 sonar suite has the processing power of 2000 laptop computers. It has the world's largest number of hydrophones, providing the Royal Navy with the "biggest ears" of any sonar system in service today.
- ASTUTE'S 97m length is more than the length of 10 London buses.
- When fully stored she will displace 7,400 tonnes of sea water, equivalent to 65 blue whales.
- There is around 110 km of cabling and pipe work onboard ASTUTE - equivalent to driving from Bristol to Oxford.
- Armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, ASTUTE can strike at targets up to 1,000 km from the coast with pinpoint accuracy - equivalent to driving from London to Paris and back twice.
- ASTUTE is faster underwater than on the surface.
- She is able to circumnavigate the world without surfacing and her dived endurance is only limited by the amount of food that can be carried and the endurance of the crew.
- When deep dived the submarine must resist the equivalent pressure of 400 family saloon cars piled, one on top of the other, on every square metre of the pressure hull.
- ASTUTE's sanitary fittings comprise five showers, five toilets, two urinals and eight hand basins for a crew of 98 (the Commanding Officer has his own hand basin).
- ASTUTE is the first Royal Navy Submarine not to be fitted with optical periscopes - instead the vessel employs high specification video technology. The images are delivered into the submarine via fibre-optic cables.
- ASTUTE can manufacture its own oxygen and fresh water from the ocean.
- ASTUTE compacts and stores onboard all the food waste and garbage arising from an extended patrol for eventual disposal when she docks.
- A team of five Royal Navy chefs provides 24 hour service. On a 10 week patrol the crew would get through an average 18,000 sausages and 4,200 Weetabix for breakfast
BAE Systems is a global defence, security and aerospace company with approximately 107,000 employees worldwide. The Company delivers a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions and customer support services. In 2009 BAE Systems reported sales of £22.4 billion (US$ 36.2 billion).
***Although the name of the submarines is ASTUTE, Vigilance has given it the nickname Astute Wonder.