AN admiral yesterday admitted the launch of a £1.5billion nuclear submarine had been a shambles.
Defence chiefs heralded HMS Astute as the most advanced sub in the world when she arrived at Faslane in 2009. But the first of seven planned hunter-killer vessels was dogged by a series of design and construction faults.
And there was more embarrassment when she grounded off Skye in 2010.
The incident led to the commander being removed. The MoD had also said the Astute would be able to make 29 knots but the Record revealed how one naval whistleblower described the boat as having a "V8 engine with a Morris Minor gearbox".
Yesterday, the head of the Navy's £10billion sub programme, Simon Lister, admitted Astute had had a "difficult birth" and lessons had been learned in the building of the latest vessel, Ambush.
He added: "I wish I could buy a submarine as if it was a Mercedes-Benz coming off the production line after 10 years of development. It isn't that." {Hint Why the Kilo Line is still Running}
But the Navy insist the Astute is on schedule to make her debut in 2013.
Admiral Lister said: "Every aspect of that submarine has been tested to the limit. We have learned lessons and every engineering development that we put into Astute has gone into or is going into Ambush."
Admiral admits teething problems with £1.5bn nuclear submarine - Daily Record
Defence chiefs heralded HMS Astute as the most advanced sub in the world when she arrived at Faslane in 2009. But the first of seven planned hunter-killer vessels was dogged by a series of design and construction faults.
And there was more embarrassment when she grounded off Skye in 2010.
The incident led to the commander being removed. The MoD had also said the Astute would be able to make 29 knots but the Record revealed how one naval whistleblower described the boat as having a "V8 engine with a Morris Minor gearbox".
Yesterday, the head of the Navy's £10billion sub programme, Simon Lister, admitted Astute had had a "difficult birth" and lessons had been learned in the building of the latest vessel, Ambush.
He added: "I wish I could buy a submarine as if it was a Mercedes-Benz coming off the production line after 10 years of development. It isn't that." {Hint Why the Kilo Line is still Running}
But the Navy insist the Astute is on schedule to make her debut in 2013.
Admiral Lister said: "Every aspect of that submarine has been tested to the limit. We have learned lessons and every engineering development that we put into Astute has gone into or is going into Ambush."
Admiral admits teething problems with £1.5bn nuclear submarine - Daily Record
