By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-25 14:15:37 | Updated at 2026-09-25 15:48:36
1 hour ago
Britain's newest attack submarine has taken to sea in a major boost to the UK's security.
HMS Agamemnon, the Royal Navy's sixth Astute Class attack submarine, set sail from BAE Systems' shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness today to begin sea trials.
Known affectionately as 'Awesome Aggie', the armed, nuclear-powered vessel is the latest addition to what the Navy considers its most capable class of hunter-killer submarines ever built.
Heaping praise onto the navy, Andy Burnham: "Having seen first-hand the dedication and pride of the workforce in Barrow, and that of the thousands of people who work across our submarine supply chain in the United Kingdom, I know how much this milestone will mean to each and every one of them."
He vowed HMS Agamemnon will play a "major role in further boosting security here at home and across Nato".
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting declared: "Deterrence is the bedrock of our national security.
"Another formidable attack submarine going to sea strengthens that deterrence and demonstrates how we are stepping up to meet the threats of a more dangerous world."
Mr Streeting, who visited the submarine before her departure, said: "I've been on board HMS Agamemnon and met her submariners and the skilled workers who delivered this incredible feat of engineering.
The vessel set sail today
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
"It's a powerful reminder of how strengthening our defence creates good jobs, opens up opportunity, and reindustrialises our country."
The departure is just one step along the submarine's path toward active service, following years of construction by thousands of skilled workers in Cumbria.
Her commissioning took place last September, when the King formally welcomed the vessel into the fleet.
The Astute Class boats are the biggest and most technologically sophisticated attack submarines the Royal Navy has ever operated, designed to strengthen both UK and Euro-Atlantic security.
At 97 metres in length — nearly the span of two Olympic swimming pools — and displacing 7,400 tonnes, the submarine carries formidable firepower in the form of heavyweight Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk IV land attack missiles.
The departure is just one step along the submarine's path toward active service
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
As a result, it is more than capable of hitting targets more than 1,000 miles away.
The underwater vessel will not even require refuelling throughout her entire operational life, thanks to a Rolls-Royce nuclear reactor powering the submarine.
Her advanced suite of capabilities encompasses stealthy precision strike, anti-submarine warfare and intelligence gathering, the Ministry of Defence said.
Beyond these roles, Astute Class submarines contribute to safeguarding the continuous at-sea deterrent, defend maritime task groups, and provide operational support to UK, Nato and coalition forces.
The Government's ill-received Defence Investment Plan commits £298billion over four years, of which £47billion is earmarked for submarine build programmes, encompassing construction, maintenance and infrastructure.
Part of this funding will support an ambition to produce one submarine every 18 months under the SSN-AUKUS programme.
Meanwhile, HMS Achilles — the seventh and final Astute Class boat — is already at an advanced stage of construction.
Up to 12 SSN-Aukus submarines will follow from the late 2030s, with steel cutting for the first vessel expected next year.
