CSC set to supply gas cylinders for high-tech vessel

NO other hunter killer can match its weaponry.

BAE Systems’ Astute-class vessel is the most technologically advanced submarine in the world.

This 7,400-tonne beast is the most capable of its type ever produced for the Royal Navy.

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Vital components for its critical systems are being made in Sheffield.

Chesterfield Gas Cylinders (CSC) announced yesterday that it has won a £2m contract to supply high-pressure gas cylinders for HMS Agamemnon, the sixth Astute submarine. The order takes the value of the company’s Astute contracts to £12m.

CSC is supplying cylinders to be used in breathing gas storage, hydraulic and valve actuation back-up, ballast operation and missile launch systems for the submarines, which are made in Barrow.

The company has already provided gas and oxygen systems for the first five vessels in the class, HMS Astute, Ambush, Artful, Audacious and Anson.

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Lee Lawrence, sales manager, said: “This contract is testament to the strong, well-established relationship forged over many years between ourselves, BAE Systems and the Royal Navy.

“It underpins the confidence that BAE Systems and the Royal Navy have in the safety critical products CSC has supplied for the previous five Astute submarines.”

CSC’s bespoke range includes the curved ‘banana’ cylinder used in the periphery of submarine hulls.

The company has been supplying the Royal Navy with high-pressure gas storage cylinders for ships and submarines since the 1930s.

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The first two Astute subs are in the water and work on the next four is underway. A seventh Astute submarine, Ajax, is due to enter service in 2024.

According to BAE Systems, the submarines will have the capability to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing and are limited only by their food storage capacity. The group said they are powered by a nuclear reactor that can run for their 25-year lifespan without refuelling.

Chesterfield Gas Cylinders dates back to 1897. It is now part of the Aim-listed Pressure Technologies Group.