Astute-class submarine

I mean, I did twenty-three years in the submarine service, which is, uh, a considerable amount of time.

Um, but when you think, you go back to [clears throat] Holland one and, and then how it's developed into the Astute class and capability that we've, um, deployed around the world and done amazing things.

Uh, but the reality is that's just technology.

It all comes back to the people

125 years on, how does our submarine capability rank in the world?

Uh, submarine for submarine, very well, but there's a problem.

Uh, they, the Astute class, uh, is a good submarine now.

Um, it could perform a range of tasks, as Ryan just said, special forces.

Now over to Peter with items from the mail.

A new Astute-class submarine has taken to open water for the first time, marking a key step towards operational deployment.

HMS Agamemnon, a 7,400-tonne, 97-metre long attack vessel, undertook her maiden journey, which began by transversing BAE Systems' shipyard dock system to reach the Walney Channel and on into the Irish Sea.

HMS Agamemnon will now undertake sea trials before joining fellow hunter-killer submarines HMS Astute, HMS Ambush, HMS Artful, HMS Audacious and HMS Anson in operational service with the Royal Navy.

Steve Timms, Managing Director of BAE Systems' submarines business, said the Astute-class submarines are equipped with the latest technologies to silently circumnavigate the globe without servicing, while fulfilling a range of tactical roles for the Royal Navy.

The departure of HMS Agamemnon, the sixth of the seven such submarines that we are building here in Barrow, demonstrates the growing momentum underpinning our submarines business and is a proud moment for everyone involved across the UK's submarine enterprise.

With BAE Systems having delivered the first six Astute-class submarines, progress on the final boat, Achilles, is at an advanced stage of construction.

Barrow, which King Charles III bestowed royal port status to last year, continues to play its part as a cornerstone of UK national security, with construction of all four of the Dreadnought-class submarines, which will replace the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class nuclear deterrent boats, already underway.

Yes, I think that did wound them quite a bit, and I think it's energised the local branches.

There's no doubt about that whatsoever, but, you know, we are looking at a situation where Despite the criticism of AUKUS, and I haven't followed too closely the submissions to the AUKUS inquiry, but I'm sure they have all made valid points of critique, but we are looking at a situation where, despite all of this, despite all the... apparent issues with the capacity of the United States to produce the number of submarines needed so that they can transfer two to three Virginia-class submarines to Australia in 2032, despite the sort of industrial slop that is Britain at the moment in terms of its capacity to finish the Astute and Dreadnought class before it gets on to SSN AUKUS.

Nevertheless, there is a political consensus at the heart of the Australian state that sticks like glue to this faith in AUKUS.

Now, it has become the template for the relationship with the United States as a whole.