The 1.5 billion euro British submarine that was supposed to protect against Russia is instead rusting
A submarine built to defend Britain from Russia has been out of service for a year because there is no functioning dry dock where it can be repaired, all despite being a recent and extremely expensive vessel.
The Astute-class nuclear-powered submarine HMS Audacious sits at Naval Base (HMNB) Devonport, Plymouth, near a graveyard of rusting submarines.
The submarine is a “hunter-killer”, a £1.3 billion, €1.5 billion nuclear attack submarine, launched in 2017, is designed to gather intelligence and strike with Tomahawk missiles or torpedoes. the ship is 97 meters long, has a floating tonnage of 7,000 tons and is powered by a reactor that will not require recharging for the 25-year expected life of the ship.
HMS Audacious docked in March after 403 days at sea, having conducted missions alongside NATO ships to monitor oil tankers and merchant ships in the Mediterranean.
HMS Audacious S122
Chief of the Defense Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin warned MPs that Russian submarine activity is at its highest level since the Cold War.
Sir Tony, who admitted it would take a long time to get HMS Audacious back to sea, told the Sun : "We don't have a dock available in Plymouth."
It is not clear why the HMS Audacious, which has a maximum speed of over 30 knots, has to go bankrupt and what structural component needs to be repaired or replaced, and this is understandable, given the delicate nature of the vessel's mission.
Contractors at Babcock International, which is contracting the maintenance work, insist that the work is progressing on schedule and that some of the necessary repairs to HMS Audacious are already underway. A company spokeswoman said work on Pier 15 is progressing according to the extensive work program for nuclear submarines.
Defense Secretary Grant Shapps told the Sun: “We don't comment on submarine operations, but we have always been able to meet our international commitments.” A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “Our submarines continue to deliver on their commitments, deploying on operations globally, protecting national interests and keeping us and our allies safe.”
All nice words, but, in the meantime, the submarine sits quietly in a naval base. Meanwhile, the Russian ships calmly pass through the English Channel to reach the Mediterranean, which should be the Audacious' area of operation. The Russian ship Admiral Grigorovich passed through the Channel a few days ago, escorted by HMS Richmond, heading towards Gibraltar and then the Mediterranean. There, observing it, he will not find the Audacious, but, if all goes well, an Italian Todaro class submarine.
Meanwhile, the 1.5 billion English investment sits quietly anchored at the dock.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new Economic Scenarios articles.
The article The 1.5 billion Euro British submarine that was supposed to protect against Russia is instead rusting comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/il-sottomarino-britannico-da-15-miliardi-di-euro-che-doveva-proteggere-dalla-russia-invece-fa-ruggine/ on Thu, 09 Nov 2023 19:43:01 +0000.