DEVELOP3D - Technology for the product lifecycle

If you want to talk about managing complex products and managing a complex lifecycle, it doesn’t get much more complex than submarine design, particularly in the defence industry. Take BAE Systems Submarine Solutions and its Astute class nuclear submarine. Having survived the governments spending cuts, it seems that the Barrow in Furness shipyard will be busy for the next 10 years, designing and building much of the next generation of the UK’s nuclear capability.

Whatever your thoughts on the use of nuclear in the defence world, the Astute class is an engineering marvel. The pressure hull is a 97 metre long cylinder which when submerged must withstand pressure equivalent to 400 family saloon cars weighing down on every square metre of surface area. It has over one million components, including 100km of cabling and 23,000 pipes, stretching 10km. When fully stored Astute will displace 7,400 tonnes of sea water, equivalent to 925 unladen London buses. HMS Ambush could travel around the world underwater for 25 years thanks to its Rolls-Royce nuclear reactor, sonar systems and ability to convert salt water into oxygen and drinking water (thought it would need to resurface every three months for other supplies). It’s also one of the first nuclear submarines to be designed entirely in a three-dimensional, computer-aided environment.

So, how do they manage such a big project, particularly when they’re working on the next generation of the British Government’s nuclear programme (I can’t quite bring myself to call it a deterrent)?

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