Old RN wrote: What was standard was the refuelling of submarines with new cores. The early UK boats had Core A, which required replacing every 3 years or so. From the Swiftsure class onwards there was Core B, which needed refuelling every 7 years or so, with the Core A boats getting Core B at their first opportunity. Core life has got longer with as technology improved to the current state where full life cores are possible. Back in the 1970s Rolls Royce Derby must have been building more than 5 cores a year (12+ SSNs, 4 SSBNs and a new boat every 12-18 months).
The year-old discussion is now being continued on the fantasy fleet -thread, while the topic is actually very much about stark reality.
"Does anyone know the status of the build for boat 7, how far along is it? What (expensive) long lead items have been purchased? What large contracts have been signed? Surely dropping it now would entail large financial penalties.
Considering the current argument being that the Russians submarine fleet are more active..."
It is not that simple, as there is only one queue (supply) for the nuclear cores [we have moved from A's and B's to H's since the days that the first quote is referrring to] but many takers [ as in new - and old - submarine classes]. This recent exchange sums up well where the real bottle neck is; the question was asked in three different flavours, but only received one, rather tight-lipped answer:
"Q
Asked by Ruth Cadbury
(Brentford and Isleworth)
Asked on: 18 January 2018
Ministry of Defence
Trident Submarines
123646
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost to (a) Devonport Royal Dockyard, (b) Rolls Royce in Derby and (c) elsewhere for refuelling operations to extend the lifespan of the Vanguard-class submarines until the Dreadnought submarines are built.
A
Answered by: Guto Bebb
Answered on: 26 January 2018
A decision on whether to refuel HMS Victorious is to be made later this year and therefore estimated costs related to the refuelling operations have yet to be finalised.
There are currently no plans to refuel HMS Vigilant or HMS Vengeance." The latter addition referring to the fact that Vanguard already needed this rejuvenation "op".
Grouped
Questions: 123641 | 123645
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)