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At risk: The new Royal Navy submarine HMS Astute The £10billion project to create a fleet of seven Royal Navy submarines is in yet more troubled waters, a watchdog has warned. Its report on the Astute-class attack boats reveals costs are still rocketing. The subs have been plagued by a string of technical hitches and delays since the first vessel was ordered 18 years ago. And the mammoth project was expected to cost another £87.5million more than planned last year - up from £558.1million to £645.6million. The watchdog, the Major Projects Authority, has issued an amber/red alert, meaning there are...

A decommissioning ceremony has been held for a Plymouth-based submarine. The service marked the end of the Royal Navy's Trafalgar Class submarine HMS Turbulent's service after nearly 30 years. The Tomahawk-equipped submarine returned to its Devonport base in December after a 284-day deployment - 190 of which were spent submerged. During the deployment HMS Turbulent fired its missiles to provide cover during Nato operations in Libya. The Royal Navy said the submarine - the second oldest of its class - had had a distinguished service, but had come to the end of its natural operational life.

ONE person has died and another is in a life-threatening condition after a shooting on board the nuclear submarine HMS Astute

Set to launch, our nuclear Leviathan: The enormous scale of the biggest submarine ever built in Britain By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 4:31 AM on 14th December 2010 Her nuclear reactor could power a city the size of Southampton, she will never need refuelling and she can use her guided ­missiles to pulverise an enemy more than 1,000 miles away. Meet HMS Ambush, the Royal Navy’s newest hunter-killer submarine. The ‘super-sub’ is able to make oxygen and fresh water from ­seawater, to keep the 98 crew — it has not yet been decided if this will include women...

The grounding of the £1.2 billion Astute hunter-killer comes at the end of a dire week for the Royal Navy which has seen its carrier force halved, Harrier jump jets axed and warship force reduced by almost a quarter. It is understood that the boat, which is first in its class, ran aground by its stern in a manoeuvre that “went slightly wrong” after it had dropped some sailors ashore in tidal waters off the Isle of Skye. As the tide rapidly ebbed it is thought the skipper of Astute, Commander Andy Coles, decided not to power it off the...

Talk about the big one that got away. Ryan Danoff was fishing with two friends about four miles off Hollywood beach Sunday when he spied what appeared to be a mast on the horizon. Funny thing: There was no boat underneath it. Danoff, a Fort Lauderdale fish farmer who's on the water at least three days a week, aimed his 31-foot center console Fishy Business at the mysterious upright and found himself eye to eye with a periscope. "It was crazy," he said. "If it was just myself out there I wouldn't believe what I saw." Danoff moved closer. "It...

Nuclear submarine HMS Astute has run aground on the rocks off the western coast of Scotland. The Ministry of Defence moved instantly to play down fears, saying it was "not a nuclear incident" and that it had caused no injuries.

Navy's stealth submarine will rule the oceans By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent Last Updated: 2:06am BST 10/05/2007 A new £1.2 billion Royal Navy submarine which from the Channel is able to detect the QE2 cruise liner leaving New York harbour was unveiled yesterday. The Astute, the first attack submarine to be built in almost two decades, is the "most stealthy in the world" and will put the Navy at the "top of the premiership", commanders said. At a time when morale is suffering, the launch next month of the Navy's biggest ever hunter-killer submarine will also give hope that Service...

   EXCLUSIVE    Tour navy's £1.2bn super sub  Sneaky peek ... inside the super sub 1. Shrouded Propulsor 2. Upper Rudder Segment 3. Lower Rudder Segment 4. Starboard Hydroplane 5. Aft Anchor Light 6. Rudder and Hydroplane Hydraulic Actuators 7. No.4 Main Ballast Tank 8. Propeller Shaft 9. High Pressure Bottles 10. No.3 Main Ballast Tank 11. Towed Array Cable Drum and Winch 12. Main Ballast Vent System 13. Aft Pressure Dome 14. Air TReatment Units 15. Naval Stores 16. Propeller Shaft Thrust Block and Bearing 17. Circulating Water Transfer Pipes 18. Lubricating Oil Tank 19. Starboard Condenser 20....

THE aggressive anti-Australian tone of East Timor's response to the Becora prison breakout is a sure sign that Canberra will have great difficulty winning an extension when the joint "green helmet-blue helmet" security arrangement is reviewed by the UN Security Council next month. Under the UN mandate passed by the council 10 days ago, the Australian-led stabilisation force has authority to operate in East Timor separately from the UN's 1600-strong police deployment. But as a concession to the many opponents of this shared security system, the council ordered UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to review the arrangement and report back within...

THE government has started cutting troop numbers in East Timor but up to 2000 personnel could remain in place until the security situation fully stabilises. Prime Minister John Howard flagged the reduction when he visited Dili last month on his first trip to the tiny nation since it erupted in violence three months ago. Australia had about 3000 army, navy and air force personnel in Timor at the height of its operation. Defence today released a statement which said it had begun a gradual reduction of its forces in Timor after assessing that the security situation had improved in Dili....

Brown in favour of updating Trident By George Jones, Political Editor (Filed: 22/06/2006) Gordon Brown promised last night to approve the updating of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent in an attempt to show that a Labour government led by him would not swing back to the Left or be "soft" on defence. In a move that will anger Left-wing MPs, the Chancellor told business leaders and financiers that as Prime Minister he would be "strong" in fighting terrorism, supporting the Armed Forces and "retaining our independent nuclear deterrent". Treasury sources said Mr Brown, who in the past has been criticised for...

AUSTRALIAN peacekeepers in East Timor will be paid less than their counterparts in Iraq, because their mission isn't "warlike". Defence Minister Brendan Nelson broke the news of the decision to troops during a lightning visit to Dili yesterday, and also told them they would get less prestigious medals. Addressing a group of mostly 3RAR soldiers in a hangar at Dili's heliport, Dr Nelson said they would receive a basic tax-free daily allowance of $78. That compares with $150 a day for those serving in Iraq. With field and seagoing allowances plus allowances for any dependant children, the maximum a soldier...

AEONS ago, in another life, I undertook a course in counselling people who were considering suicide. We were told that a suicide attempt represents a peak of experience. Even for someone perennially depressed, to get to the point of attempting suicide is a rare and unusually intense experience. Therefore, one of the central strategies in avoiding suicides is to get people past the peak. If you do, another peak may not arise again for a long time, perhaps ever. What is true of depressed people is also true of depressed nations. The moment just before they pass from being merely...

NEW Zealand troops announced their arrival in Dili with a fearsome haka today, sending clouds of dust over the troubled East Timor capital as they stamped their feet in the traditional Maori war dance. While the Kiwis have been on patrol in the dangerous Becora area since early last week, they performed the ceremony today as a formal greeting to Australia's Brigadier Mick Slater, who commands international troops in the city. "Kamate, kamate – ka ora ka ora (I die, I die – I live, I live)," a group of 30 New Zealand troops roared, thumping their chests in unison...

THE United Nations has ordered staff in East Timor not to co-operate with Australian Federal Police investigating the massacre of 12 unarmed Timorese officers by renegade soldiers, prompting allegations of a cover-up. An email from the UN's deputy representative in Timor, Pakistani General Anis Bajwa, had been circulated to all staff, including employees evacuated to Australia, directing them not to assist AFP detectives investigating the worst atrocity since the violence of 1999. A copy of the email had been passed to Australia's Embassy in Dili, outraged diplomats and AFP sources confirmed to AAP. Earlier today the UN denied the email...

AUSTRALIA will play hard ball with the United Nations over any fresh resolution for East Timor, insisting on controlling the military and policing aspects of the mission. It is understood the Government wants virtually no UN interference over security functions in the trouble-plagued country. That could mean a long military deployment for our troops -- and a heavy bill for taxpayers. Government sources yesterday confirmed Australia would draw a line in the sand on security but added there was still a "long way to go" in negotiations for a new security council resolution. Meanwhile, sources have revealed Prime Minister John...

AUSTRALIA'S necessary military intervention in East Timor is now hostage to the political divisions and constitutional deadlock that have been played out during the past week. This should end the romantic and unrealistic view of East Timor that has shaped Australia's public debate since the 1975 Indonesian invasion, driven relentlessly by Australia's media. The ministries in Jakarta will be rocking with laughter this week. In seven short years East Timor has ceased to be Indonesia's problem and has become Australia's problem. Consider these harsh truths. The reason Indonesia invaded East Timor 31 years ago (having previously ignored the territory) is...

MAYBE this past week has taught us to pity. Because look: East Timor is being forgiven like Iraq never is. Its capital can be looted, its soldiers can gun down its police, its gangs can murder children, its people can be made to live on charity, its politicians can squabble over the power they then abuse -- but no fool here says freedom was a mistake. Even as our soldiers guard refugees cowering in church yards, still no commentator sneers that it all shows we were crazy to liberate East Timor in 1999. No one is saying these 900,000 East...

5/30/2006 - TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AFPN) -- The U.S. Pacific Command is using its strategic airlift capability to help the Australian Defense Force. At the request of the Australian government, two C-17 Globemaster IIIs from Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, are moving equipment and troops from the Solomon Islands back to Australia. This will help Australia position its forces to respond more rapidly to unrest in neighboring East Timor. The biggest part of the mission involves the loading and unloading of passengers and cargo. “We’re in charge of passenger safety (and) ensuring the cargo is loaded correctly ... the weight and...