| Astute Class Submarine |
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The ''Astute'' class submarines are the next generation nuclear Attack Submarine s of the Royal Navy . When completed, the boats will comprise the largest nuclear-powered attack submarines the service has fielded. BACKGROUND As the ''Swiftsure''-class Submarines aged, the Royal Navy began to design their replacements. The original design called for large submarines designed for Blue-water operations. Feasibility studies began in 1986 and were completed by 1989 . A design contract was placed with Vickers Shipbuilding And Engineering Ltd . (VSEL) in 1987 , but with the end of the Cold War the project was cancelled in 1992 . Emphasis switched to the production of a second batch of ''Trafalgar''-class Submarines (Batch 2 Trafalgar Class or B2TC). However the development was extremely slow and initial tenders received from VSEL in June 1995 were too expensive. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy has changed its submarine-employment strategy from the Cold War emphasis on anti-submarine warfare to the concept of "Maritime Contributions to Joint Operations." The proposed replacement boats were redesigned; the primary mission of the ''Astute'' class became direct support of surface forces. Original plans were for seven boats of the ''Astute'' class to replace five ''Swiftsure''-class Submarines ( ''Sovereign'' , ''Superb'' , ''Sceptre'' , ''Spartan'' , and ''Splendid'' ) and the two oldest ''Trafalgar''-class Boats ( ''Trafalgar'' and ''Turbulent'' ). Plans, however, have been scaled back. The ''Swiftsure''-class will be entirely decommissioned by 2010, when only the first of the Astute-class will be coming into service. HMS ''Trafalgar'' is to be decommissioned in 2008, followed by HMS ''Turbulent'' in 2011. On , ''Ambush'' , and ''Artful'' . These names were last given to ''Amphion''-class submarines that entered service towards the end of World War II . The ''Astute'' class is expected to be built roughly one-fifth more quickly than earlier boats, with lower running costs and a much smaller ship’s company. It will be the first Royal Navy submarine class to have a bunk for each member of the ship's company, ending the practice of 'hot bunking', whereby two sailors on opposite watches shared the same bunk. ''Astute''-class boats will be powered by a Rolls-Royce PWR2 Reactor and fitted with a Pump-jet propulsor. The PWR2 reactor was developed for ''Vanguard''-class ballistic missile submarines. As a result ''Astute''-class boats are about 30 per cent larger than previous British attack submarines, which were powered by smaller reactors. Like all Royal Navy submarines, the conning towers of the ''Astute''-class boats will be reinforced to allow surfacing through ice caps. They can fire Tomahawk Cruise Missile s from their launch tubes, including the new "tactical Tomahawk" currently under development. SHIPS
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