UK Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Friday at 8:21 PM
understandably, 10 February 2017 • 2:57pm
Ministry of Defence denies Britain's entire fleet of attack submarines are 'out of action'

source:
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of course the RN demurred ... it would've been more interesting, though, to hear the names of "operational, capable and ready attack submarines"

one could start in the blog (which tries to be protective, but not to some fanboish point):
"HMS Astute has been at sea on trials, seen on the Clyde in early February after completing a lengthy refit in Faslane. HMS Ambush was pictured still under repair in Faslane at the end of January, the damaged conning tower cover still shrouded in scaffolding more than 5 months after an embarrassing accident. While conducting ‘Perisher’ Commanding Officer training, she collided with a merchant vessel off Gibraltar, damage was obviously more than cosmetic. This accident was the last thing the RN needed but perhaps one should consider for a moment the lunacy that has forced the navy to conduct CO training using a £1Bn submarine that represents 33-50% of its available strength. HMS Artful was pictured in Faslane at the end of January fitted with the CHALFONT Dry Deck Shelter (for use by special forces divers) so it would seem likely she is preparing for deployment.

HMS Triumph was refitted in Faslane 2014-15 and has been active around Plymouth in 2016-17. Our friend Mr Giannangeli at the Express published
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on New Year’s day claiming she had tracked two Russian submarines for four days just before Christmas with a special new non-acoustic sensor made by Thales (Possibly based on wake-tracking technology that has been around for decades). The MoD itself remained silent but reliable naval sources are quite bemused and say the article was just a fantasy. HMS Trenchant recommissioned in August 2016 after a major refit and upgrade in Devonport. It seems unlikely that a terminal problem with her reactor would emerge now. HMS Torbay was a very busy submarine in 2016 but is scheduled to decommission this year after 30 years of service. A rare and excellent piece about the role of submarines and life on board Torbay was
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in December 2016. HMS Talent made the headlines when she suffered minor damage after “colliding with ice” in 2015. She was undergoing major refit in Devonport during 2016."
RN attack submarines – is there a crisis?
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and I still wonder about "operational, capable and ready attack submarines" the brass declared to exist in the link I quoted Friday at 8:21 PM
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
They sleep o_O

Barrow-built submarine HMS Ambush still undergoing repairs six months after collision
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Trafalgar since longtime have reactor problems

Service problems[
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]

In 1998, Trenchant experienced a steam leak, forcing the crew to shut down the nuclear reactor. In 2000 a leak in the
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reactor primary cooling circuit was discovered on Tireless, forcing her to proceed to
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on diesel power.
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The fault was found to be due to thermal fatigue cracks, requiring the other Trafalgar-class boats, and some of the remaining Swiftsure-class boats, to be urgently inspected and if necessary modified.
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In August 2000 it was revealed that with Tireless still at Gibraltar, Torbay, Turbulent, Trenchant and Talent were at
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for refit or repair and with Trafalgar undergoing sea trials, only one boat, Triumph, was fully operational. By 2005, refits had reportedly corrected these problems.
In 2013 the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator reported that the reactor systems were suffering increasing technical problems due to ageing, requiring effective management. An example was that Tireless had had a small radioactive coolant leak for eight days in February 2013
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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Royal Navy: 5 SSN out of 7 ?

A new anomaly putting, for the umpteenth time, the safety of the nuclear reactors embarked on the class Trafalgar causes to worry about the fate of the black ships still in service. The British submarine consists of seven nuclear-powered attack submarines including four Type T (HMS Trenchant, Torbay, Triumph and Talent). What solutions for the Royal Navy if they were withdrawn prematurely from service?

The last Trafalgar class boats, in the current state of British programming, have to leave the service in the next few years. The Torbay would leave active service in 2017 followed by Trenchent (2019), the Talent (2021) and finally the Triumph (2023). They would all be replaced number by number by boats of the class Astute, namely the HMS Audacious (2018), Anson (2020), Agammenon (2022) and Ajax (2024).

These new SSNs are in varying degrees of advancement and are enthroned together in the same arming hall for their completion as the cutting of the first sheet of the future HMS Dreadnought was cut in 2016. It seems very difficult to disrupt an industrial organization To the inertia so heavy.

The alarmist news is advancing the appearance of a new alarmist fissure on one of the organs of the reactor. This would be a secondary circuit line at the immediate exit from the reactor vessel. This part is very difficult to reach and there is reason to suppose that an intervention could at least require the complete shutdown of the reactor for a certain period of time if it was considered necessary to intervene on the part or parts complained of . "The Defense Safety Nuclear Regulator will decide the fate of the vessels, but the nuclear engineers will be able to" - and may also affect the other three vessels because they are so old. "

This is far from being the first alert in terms of nuclear safety of the power stations embarked on the Trafalgar but also the Swiftsure. The PWR1 reactors are noticeable by anomalies on the cooling system from the year 2000. This first alert immobilized all the units of the class. Another alert occurred in 2013. The one in 2017 could well be the last.

At present, these four Type Ts would either be unavailable for maintenance or unavailability for repairs. In either case, they could not, or even more, pretend to carry out operational missions for the benefit of the Navy of His Gracious Majesty.

The Royal Navy would then have, in all and all, only its three Astute in order to proceed with the safety of the approaches of Faslane and of the zones of departure and return of missions of the Vanguards, the British SSBN. This format with three boats does not allow the safe and certain permanence in the sea of at least one unit, the imperious experience demonstrates that there must be at least four. And the facts are stubborn since the HMS Ambush, class Astute, was the victim of a collision off the coast of Gibraltar in the summer of 2016. But it was still in repair in February 2017 ...

If we were to believe these alarmist assertions then the Royal Navy would have only two out of seven ANS capable of fulfilling the missions assigned to the British submarines. This number would rise to three units although the fate of the four Trafalgar is very precarious.

The situation would then become rapidly critical and the whole of the British submarine resources would be concentrated on the sole question of securing approaches to continental landings in favor of ocean deterrence. In this perspective, there is no reason to doubt that London would appeal for Atlantic and Franco-British solidarity (the St Malo agreements (3 and 4 December 1998) and the Treaty of Lancaster House (2 November 2010). On the French side, such an aggravation of the situation of the Royal Navy would argue for the continuation in service of the SNA Ruby as proposed by the deputy Rouillard The US Navy could answer present as the Russian pressure in the North Atlantic decreases Not, on the contrary.

This eventual crisis would lead to (re) consider the relevance of the creation of a "bastion" straddling the seas of Iroise, Ireland and the North for the benefit of English and French dissuasions. The weakness of the frigates, nuclear-powered attack submarines and maritime patrol aircraft call for coordination between the two navies. The European geostrategic context underpins the preservation of the nuclear character of the Atlantic Alliance and the nuclear weapon is seen as one of the fundamentals of European security. This bastion could be used to structure the occupation of air space by NATO forces. The European parameters seem favorable to the case ....

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that's interesting: “Unfortunately, it still means we are constructing ships outside rather than under cover, which is not the way modern shipyards should operate."
Major investment scrapped at Upper Clyde's last yards
SHIPBUILDING in
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will wither in the global marketplace, it has been claimed, after BAE Systems scaled back much-vaunted investment plans that would have been a “game-changer” for the industry

The defence giant has confirmed it will no longer invest in a major new outfitting hall to build new frigates for the Royal Navy.

Instead it will this summer begin a series of less dramatic investments at both its facilities, Govan and Scotstoun, to enable it to carry out what is now a smaller contract than first mooted.

Shipbuilding insiders stress that scrapping the giant shed, planned for Govan, is just the latest move to downgrade multi-million-pound investments on the Clyde mooted before the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.

The investment in shipbuilding had been much-trumpeted ahead of the vote on Scotland's future. Nine months before the ballot, Charlie Blakemore, who is now operations director of BAE Systems, could not have been more upbeat: "It will provide a capacity that is world-class," he said.

"We will be able to compete in a more level playing field."

Last year, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon boasted that the order for Type 26 frigates - eight rather than an originally proposed 13 - would secure jobs on the Clyde for 20 years. But unions believe underinvestment is threatening the yards' long-term future after that job is done.

The trade union convener for the yards, Duncan McPhee, said: "BAE is investing in infrastructure which is essential for the Type 26 programme and in facilities for employees which is welcome.

“However, the investments are not on the scale we had hoped for. This is not the game-changer it could have been and we have long argued that this is a missed opportunity to provide world class shipbuilding facilities in
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which would have helped us secure future export contracts.

“Unfortunately, it still means we are constructing ships outside rather than under cover, which is not the way modern shipyards should operate."

Critics in the yards condemn what they called the "make do and mend" attitude of BAE Systems and its paymasters at the UK Ministry of Defence. The firm, they say, is doing the bare minimum it can to deliver eight Type 26s or "global combat ships" as the navy calls them.

Back in early 2014 BAE Systems said it wanted to build a £200-£300m "frigate factory" at Scotstoun, effectively securing work on the Clyde for decades and opening up real prospects of export orders. Executives, however, said they would also consider what they called a "sub-optimal" Plan B, a £100m investment including the new shed at Govan. They dropped plans for the frigate factory in 2015. Now they have also binned their Plan B.

Insiders - and politicians - are particularly worried about how the Clyde yards will compete for export orders, including for another kind of frigate currently being planned, the Type-31.

One competitor, Irving of Nova Scotia, is building a warship dock hall similar to the ones abandoned by BAE Systems and is currently advertising to lure skilled Clydeside shipbuilders to Canada.

BAE Systems used to build frigates in covered shed at Scotstoun but this was demolished in 2014 to make way for a new high-tech factory which failed to materialise. The area is now derelict.

Chris Stephens, the
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MP whose constituency includes the Govan yard, has warned that the Clyde is now facing "constrained capacity", that its facilities are just not big and modern enough to fight for other orders. He is campaigning for major reconstruction for the two yards.

Mr Stephens said: "MOD pressure not to invest in the frigate factory, which resulted in the demolition of the covered berth and module hall at Scotstoun, means that the Clyde has constrained capacity.

"Shipyard reconstruction will unlock significant long term advances and savings for the industry. It will mean that more orders can be won, not only here but overseas. Investment in that reconstruction will see the full potential of shipbuilding on the Clyde being realised."

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's Ian Murray MP agreed: "Construction of the new Type 26 frigate on the Clyde secured the future of the yard for the next twenty years. But we need to have a view to the long term - the shipyard needs to be in a position to bid for the Type 31 frigates and others in the future.

"If not, these contracts will go elsewhere and potentially overseas. The UK and Scottish Governments need an industrial strategy that invests in defence and commercial shipbuilding on the Clyde to increase opportunities for shipbuilding."

Sources close to BAE Systems have confirmed big ticket highly visible investments, such as the outfitting hall, are not going to happen. Investment programmes, they said, had "evolved" from 2015. Sources argue the firm is still putting £100m in to its twin yards on the Clyde, which now effectively act as a single production facility.

A spokesman for the firm said: “We are investing in modern technologies, systems, ways of working and our infrastructure as we continue to transform the way we design and build warships.

"We are making significant investments in Glasgow and our focus is to design and build complex warships to the highest quality whilst ensuring we deliver value for money for our customer and are well placed to compete effectively for future orders.”

Recent investments have included new robotic welding systems, already in place at Govan. Office spaces and amenity areas and fabrication facilities were upgraded last year. Infrastructure improvements to enable the Type 26s to be build at Govan and then fitted out in Scotstoun are currently scheduled to begin in the summer.
source:
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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
"HMS Astute has been at sea on trials, seen on the Clyde in early February after completing a lengthy refit in Faslane. HMS Ambush was pictured still under repair in Faslane at the end of January, the Friday

17/02 HMS Astute continuing post-refit sea trials - passing Gourock outbound from Faslane
GB Astute.jpg
 
LOL now I saw like shootout in Twitter related to:
Feb 14, 2017
...
RN attack submarines – is there a crisis?
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and from what I figured, for the remaining supporters of the current Admiralty this:

Submariners from HMS Trenchant prepare for life at sea again
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(dated 21/02/2017)

is very important as, for them, the current situation is "a temporary blip in the maintenance cycle"
and I still wonder about "operational, capable and ready attack submarines" the brass declared to exist in the link I quoted Friday at 8:21 PM
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
LOL now I saw like shootout in Twitter related to:
Feb 14, 2017
and from what I figured, for the remaining supporters of the current Admiralty this:

Submariners from HMS Trenchant prepare for life at sea again
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(dated 21/02/2017)

is very important as, for them, the current situation is "a temporary blip in the maintenance cycle"
Give me one Ping, and one ping only!
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Royal Navy’s oldest active vessel ready for retirement

Royal Fleet Auxiliary Gold Rover entered Portsmouth one final time on February 22, marking the end of her 43-year career.

The tanker made the entry minutes after a wartime bomb was moved from the harbour.

RN divers dealt with the German 250kg device which was dredged up overnight as part of preparatory work for the arrival of the Navy’s new carriers.

RFA Gold Rover made her way into Portsmouth and Fountain Lake Jetty, where over the coming weeks all things useful will be stripped out as the ship is prepared for the breaker’s yard.

Given her length of service, the tanker was permitted the rare honour – for a ship in the RFA – of flying a decommissioning pennant, a long very thin version of the Blue Ensign auxiliaries hoist.

Based on a combination of the length of the career and length of the ship, it stretched for 140 metres (460ft).

“This is a significant period in the history of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary – and perhaps a moment to reflect as we reach the end of the Rover class,” Cdre Duncan Lamb, head of the RFA said. “But it’s also an opportunity to look to the future at the Tide-class ships.”

Right now, the first of those – Tidespring – is on a 16,000-mile odyssey from the shipbuilder in Korea, crossing the Pacific, passing through Panama then across the Atlantic to the UK for final fitting out.

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Godric

Just Hatched
Registered Member
LOL now I saw like shootout in Twitter related to:
Feb 14, 2017
and from what I figured, for the remaining supporters of the current Admiralty this:

Submariners from HMS Trenchant prepare for life at sea again
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(dated 21/02/2017)

is very important as, for them, the current situation is "a temporary blip in the maintenance cycle"

... yeah they will face a major crisis soon because the SNP are due to call another Independence referendum and those subs will have relocate from Scotland because they are not wanted
 
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