BRITAIN’S newest nuclear submarine Ambush will be rolled out at BAE’s Barrow yard next month.

The second Astute class attack submarine, weighing in at 7,400 tonnes, will be unveiled and officially named on December 16.

Lady Anne Soar, Ambush’s sponsor and wife of the Royal Navy’s Commander in Chief Fleet, Admiral Sir Trevor Soar, will perform the ceremony.

She will be joined by dignitaries from BAE Systems, the Royal Navy and MoD, plus other invited guests.

John Hudson, BAE Systems Submarine Solutions Managing Director, said: “The launch of Ambush will represent another significant milestone in the Astute programme, following the commissioning into service of HMS Astute in August this year.”

Following the ceremony, Ambush will be inched out of the company’s main construction facility, the 51m high, 58m wide and 260m long Devonshire Dock Hall. She will then be lowered into the dock by a ship lift to allow further outfitting and testing and commissioning to take place.

BAE Systems is the lead contractor for the Astute programme, and as well as Ambush, is currently constructing three other vessels in the seven-boat class.

Boat three Artful is now well advanced following the integration of the Command Deck Module earlier this year. The final butt weld followed this to form a complete hull, and outfitting of the vessel continues.

Construction of major steelwork for fourth in class Audacious continues after its keel was laid in 2009, early build phases have begun on Boat 5, and long lead items, including the reactor core, has been ordered for Boat 6.

Each Astute submarine is 97m long and fuelled by a nuclear reactor powerful enough to power a city the size of Southampton. They are armed with a mix Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, and its sonar suite has the processing power of 2,000 laptops.