A Royal Navy nuclear submarine has dived into controversy after it arrived in Gibraltar over the weekend. Spanish environmental groups demanded that the vessel leave at once over fears about its nuclear power. Reports in Spain suggests that the vessel has suffered a fault and is being repaired at the "Rock." Britain remains tight lipped.
HMS Astute, is one of Britain´s most modern "hunter-killer submarines" and is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and conventional torpedoes. She is the lead vessel of a class of seven which have been built for the Royal Navy.
According to Spanish press reports an expert in repair work on nuclear submarines has arrived on Gibraltar.
British nuclear submarines can often dock at Gibraltar but there are fears in Spain that the "Rock" is being used as a repair base for British nuclear submarines.
Astute was launched on 8 June 2007 by the then Duchess of Cornwall, 43 months behind schedule. The launch attracted more than 10,000 spectators. Her builders BAE Systems described her as "the largest and most able attack submarine that the Royal Navy has operated, with a performance to rival any in the world".
Astute left Barrow on 15 November 2009 and on 20 November 2009, arrived at her home port of HMNB Clyde at Faslane, where she is still based.
The Astute class has stowage for 38 weapons and would typically carry a mix of Spearfish heavy torpedoes and Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles, the latter costing £870,000 each. The Tomahawk missiles are capable of hitting a target to within a few metres, to a range of 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres). In May 2022, the MOD announced that it would be upgrading these missiles to Block V standard from 2024, which boasts an extended range and modernised in-flight communication and target selection.