New submarines take to sea with Weymouth-designed weapons (From Dorset Echo)

New submarines take to sea with Weymouth-designed weapons

11:50am Saturday 21st November 2009 in

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THE first of a new batch of next generation nuclear-powered submarines, which had its weapons designed in Weymouth, has begun sea trials.

The Astute-class vessel left BAE Systems’ shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria for the first stage of trials designed to prove its capability as the most formidable vessel of its kind ever operated by the Royal Navy.

Workers at BAE Systems’ Submarine Solutions in Weymouth, where design for Astute’s combat system first started in 1989 should feel ‘justifiably proud,’ company managers said.

The Weymouth office on the Granby Industrial Estate has combat system specialists across a range of systems engineering disciplines including requirements engineering, system design, safety engineering and configuration management – skills required to ensure the combat system delivered to Astute was compliant with Ministry of Defence requirements.

Head of Combat Systems Engineering at Weymouth, David Northam said: “This was a tremendous achievement by the Weymouth office.”

During the transit from Barrow to Clyde Naval Base at Faslane in Scotland, Astute is scheduled to start a period of sea trials that will continue for several months.

The Royal Navy crew will be accompanied on board by BAE Systems engineers and technicians who will work alongside them to monitor and measure the equipment.