The Newest Astute-class nuclear submarine for Britain's Royal Navy is undergoing sea trials to test systems capabilities.

BAE Systems, builder of the future HMS Artful, said the trials began Thursday when the vessel set sail from a BAE Systems facility in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

"Seeing Artful exit from Barrow today is the culmination of a huge amount of hard work from everyone at BAE Systems, our partners and the hundreds of businesses in our supply chain network," said Tony Johns, managing director, BAE Systems Submarines. "BAE Systems in Barrow is a world class facility, designing and building submarines that are some of the most sophisticated engineering projects in the world."

The future HMS Artful is the third of eight Astute-class attack submarines built by BAE Systems. It is 318 feet long and has a submerged speed of as much as 30 knots.

Armaments include Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk land attack missiles.