Britain’s Most Powerful Nuclear Submarine Arrives in Gibraltar Hours After Putin’s Threat
By OLIVER TRAPNELL
HMS Audacious is one of the UK’s newest submarines and is considered one of the world’s most deadly underwater vehicles. The Astute class vessel is a hunter-killer submarine used for attacking and sinking other subs and surface ships with its torpedoes and is capable of attacking land targets with its Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Arriving for its first visit to The Rock, the 97-metre-long vessel docked alongside the USS Georgia.
Audacious is capable of striking targets up to 1,200km from the coast with pinpoint accuracy.
The vessel is also capable of producing its own oxygen and fresh water from sea water, meaning it is capable of sustaining long missions without needing to come up for air.
The arrival of the vessel comes after Putin banned Boris Johnson and several other members of the Cabinet from ever entering Russia.
HMS audacious docks in Gibraltar
Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement: “In connection with the unprecedented hostile actions of the British government, expressed, in particular, in the imposition of sanctions against top officials of the Russian Federation, a decision was made to include key members of the British government and a number of political figures in the Russian ‘stop list’.
“In the near future, this list will be expanded to include British politicians and parliamentarians who contribute to whipping up anti-Russian hysteria.”
Under the nation’s latest sanctions, Chancellor Rishi SUnak, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallance, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab are all banned from entering Russia.
The Foregin Office has not yet responded to the banning, but a Government spokesperson has issued a statement denouncing the Russian invasion.
