Commanding Officer
Commander M J D Walliker OBE Royal Navy
Mike Walliker was born in Wimbledon in 1964, and entered Britannia Royal Naval College in September 1982 after being educated at Oundle School. Following initial training ashore and four months in the frigate HMS Londonderry, he went to Birmingham University to read French. During the university vacations he spent time in the Hong Kong Squadron and several weeks in both a US and a French warship. On graduation in 1987, he completed his fleet training in the frigate HMS Jupiter before volunteering for the Submarine Service.
Between 1989 and 1996 he served in a number of sea appointments including the conventional submarine HMS Odin as the Signals Officer and the nuclear submarines HMS Triumph and Talent as the Navigating and Operations Officer. From 1990 to 1992 he served at the Fleet headquarters in Northwood as Flag Lieutenant to Flag Officer Submarines.
Commander Walliker completed the Submarine Command Course, the Perisher, in January 1997 and was appointed as the Executive Officer of HMS Turbulent. During his two years onboard, the submarine completed a refit, a period of operational training and a deployment to the Gulf region.
In April 1999, he returned to the Staff at Northwood for a short appointment as the Special Operations Officer. He was promoted to Commander in December 1999 and took command of HMS Tireless in Gibraltar in August 2000.
During his 28 months in command, the submarine underwent a lengthy nuclear repair in Gibraltar, a work-up and a deployment to the Atlantic Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre off the eastern seaboard of the United States. During his final months onboard, the submarine conducted an operational patrol.
In January 2003, Commander Walliker was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the Submarine Command Course (Teacher) for two years, after which he took up an appointment in the Directorate of Naval Resources and Plans in the Ministry of Defence. He was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in June 2003.
He was appointed to command HMS Astute, the first of a new generation of hunter killer submarines in 2007, joining the submarine in build, in Barrow-in-Furness.
He is married to Charlotte, a former WRNS Officer. They have two young children, Lucy and Jonty and live in South Devon. His interests are varied but include travel and sport. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of the Makers of Playing Cards and a member of MCC.
ONCE THE DECISION had been made that the Royal Navy should bear the nuclear weapons of the UK, the submarine took on an important role. While the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy were tasked with nuclear capability, it now rested solely with the senior service. The presence of submarines has never been less than significant during their 100-year history with the Royal Navy. During World War II the submarine service came into its own and since that time boats have become increasingly larger and faster and now the latest name in the long line of famous classes is Astute. Three have been ordered with a possible three more to follow. Laid down by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness on 31 January 2001 the first S.119, HMS Astute, is now being constructed by BAE Systems that took over the contract. The second Astute Class submarine will be S.120 HMS Ambush and she will be followed by S.121 HMS Artful. It was expected that the first of the type would enter service in mid-2005 but this date has slipped to late 2006. 
There may be a small delay with Ambush and Artful also, but everyone involved is working hard to minimise any impact on these boats, and they are still predicted to enter service in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Attack submarines originate from early studies of nuclear-powered vessels in the UK during 1946, long before other nations had considered such a propulsion system. Research and development in the war-ravaged United Kingdom was soon overtaken by the mighty United States and it was not until 1960 that the first British nuclear submarine was launched. HMS Dreadnought was a fully operational attack submarine and served for 20 years from 1963 before being decommissioned in 1983 and placed in store. 
Following extensive studies the replacement of the Swiftsure class with a totally new design was deemed to be necessary. However, by 1990 it had become clear that unit costs for the proposed SSN-20 W Class would be in the order of £400m. When this was added to R&D costs and proposed reductions in defence spending were taken into account, the project was cancelled in 1991. Meanwhile, the study into the Batch 2 Trafalgar class submarines continued and it became apparent that further development of the Trafalgar class was the way forward. To differentiate between the Trafalgar class, now termed Batch 1 Trafalgar class, and the new variant, the name Astute class was chosen. 
FOSM Rear Admiral Stevens commented, "The services of SSN (Ship Submersible Nuclear) community has made a decisive break away from its cold-war emphasis on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) to embrace the Navy's new operational concept of Maritime Contributions to Joint Operations. The challenge now is to realise the full potential of the SSN across its wider range of taskings - operations in direct support of surface forces are becoming a far more important part of the submarine services operations." 
The Astute class also will have fully reelable towed arrays rather than the clip-on type now in use. Other equipment is to be finalised and upgrades will be announced during the building programme. China, Russia, France and the US have SSN programmes, some quite advanced. However, because of a lack of funds many Russian programmes have been curtailed. Five of their improved Akula-Class SSNs were laid down but only three were completed and two partially completed vessels were leased to the Indian Navy during 2002. One of China's Han Class SSNs made headlines in 1994 when it approached the carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the Yellow Sea in October 1994. China is now busy working with a Russian design team on a new, improved vessel to replace the ageing Han Class. 
Following development problems, the first French SSN did not join the fleet until 1983. However, the Rubis and Amethyste classes have operated from their Toulon base for many years and have been subjected to major update rebuilding programmes. France has announced a new SSN programme, the new Baracuda class will enter service from 2010, but details are sketchy and apart from the fact that this new class will be larger than Rubis/Amethyste and smaller than Astute, little is known.