An article by Heritage Foundation experts, “The British Submarine Problem and What It Means to US Security,” published on the American conservative portal ‘The Daily Signal,’ has criticized the British government for reducing its once-mighty naval fleet to a global laughingstock.
The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom currently maintains five Astute-class attack submarines armed with torpedoes and American Tomahawk cruise missiles, one outdated Trafalgar-class attack submarine, and four Vanguard-class strategic nuclear submarines outfitted with American-made Trident ballistic missiles.
The Royal Navy’s attack submarines are responsible for monitoring the movements of Russian submarines in the North Atlantic, serving as a frontline of deterrence against Russia. This is a significant benefit to the US. This monitoring is of particular significance to the national security of the US, as Russia’s submarine forces have shown a surge in activity in the region and beyond. The article notes the detection of Russian submarines in the US, Caribbean, Mediterranean, North Sea, Irish Sea, and Portugal last year.
Nevertheless, British submarines are experiencing difficulty in fulfilling their allied obligations.
The Royal Navy, which was once undeniably powerful, is currently experiencing crises. According to the article, the Royal Navy’s attack submarines have not participated in naval operations for nearly 100 days this year.
The British media has been even more unforgiving in its criticism of the Royal Navy’s submarine crisis.
‘The Economist’ reports that at the end of August, the government declined to disclose which one of the four British Vanguard-class nuclear submarines made its way back to Faslane, Scotland. The submariners, deprived of sunlight and fresh air for nearly six months, rested their heads against the marine vegetation-covered hull. They were weary. UK Defense Secretary John Healy, who observed the scene, commended the crew for their “extraordinary sacrifices.” However, the extended patrols also reflect the ongoing crisis in the United Kingdom’s submarine forces.
The UK has two categories of submarines: four Vanguard-class SSBNs, permanently at sea and equipped with Trident nuclear missiles, and six Trafalgar- or Astute-class SSNs, equipped with cruise missiles, responsible for monitoring Russian submarines and gathering intelligence. These are the largest submarine forces in Europe, with France having one fewer SSN. However, they are currently overstretched.
The primary role of British attack submarines is to guide the Vanguard-class submarines, thereby preventing Russia from tracking British nuclear assets. Tom Sharp, a former Navy commander, asserts that the surveillance of Russian submarine movements in the North Atlantic is a multiplayer game. ‘Our SSNs… are absent. The Royal Navy is, frankly, not meeting its assigned tasks,'” notes The Economist.
Nearly a year after allegations surfaced that none of its vessels were at sea, the Royal Navy’s SSN fleet continues to encounter substantial operational challenges, according to the independent British naval portal ‘Navy Lookout’. In the past three months, only one of the six SSNs presently in service has conducted sea operations, according to the portal’s most recent analysis. The report highlights the fleet’s extended periods of inactivity: HMS Ambush has remained docked at Faslane for two years, HMS Artful has not been at sea for over 15 months, and HMS Audacious, despite some initial maintenance, has been waiting for a dry dock at Devonport for 16 months. Furthermore, HMS Astute has not conducted any operations in the past seven months, despite being operational in 2023.
In April 2024, the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the Bahamas concluded sea trials and test firings for the brand-new attack submarine Anson. However, it has not been operational since then.
Heritage Foundation experts attribute the UK submarine crisis to outdated safety standards and a lack of active docks for maintenance. An unexpected certification failure at the Faslane naval base in Scotland rendered the lift non-operational for more than a year.
Additionally, there is an increasing scarcity of submariners and naval engineers. The Royal Navy has experienced a 24% decrease in personnel over the past 23 years.
American analysts underscore the necessity for US allies to enhance their independent defense capabilities as strategic priorities evolve. Analysts emphasize that close allies must increase their regional security responsibilities in response to the United States’ recent decision to redirect its military resources and attention to the Indo-Pacific region in order to address China’s increasing military assertiveness. They suggest that French and German naval forces may need to assume responsibility for submarine patrols in the North Atlantic if the United Kingdom is unable to sustain its traditional naval commitments, particularly in submarine operations.
If the UK is to be a leader in the deterrence of Russia in the North Atlantic and beyond on behalf of NATO while simultaneously supporting the broader US geostrategic interests against expansionist China, it must begin to prioritize its navy.
A catastrophic loss of military production expertise would impede the British in their efforts to revive their navy, even if they had the financial resources to do so (which they do not, as evidenced by the 22 million pound budget deficit).
The situation with strategic submarines that are intended to deter Russia and China is unthinkable.
On November 19, 2023, a British Vanguard-class SSBN with 140 crew members and Trident-2 nuclear missiles nearly sank in the Atlantic due to a depth gauge malfunction.
‘The Sun’, a British newspaper, reported that a Royal Navy nuclear submarine recently experienced a severe malfunction that reportedly placed the vessel and its 140 crew members in a “danger zone,” nearly ending in a catastrophic incident. The report suggests that the situation had the potential to escalate into the Royal Navy’s most severe disaster since World War II. The newspaper underscores that the incident’s potential for escalation would have required a complex rescue operation to recover both the classified vessel and its nuclear reactor, in addition to concerns regarding potential Russian interference at the site.
As the submarine prepared to submerge, the depth gauge malfunctioned, leading the captain to believe that it was still on the ocean’s surface as it descended to a hazardous depth.
In the final seconds before reaching a hazardous depth, the AFT section engineers noticed a secondary depth gauge and sounded the alarm.
‘The Sun’ does not reveal the submarine’s name or the depth it reached for security reasons.
The operational status of Britain’s Vanguard-class submarine fleet is subject to significant constraints, as indicated by the report. Currently, only two of the four submarines in the class are available for service. One vessel is currently undergoing extensive maintenance work, while another is conducting sea trials following repairs that reportedly exceeded their intended budget by 300 million pounds, according to the publication.
The UK Ministry of Defense acknowledged a failed test launch of a Trident-II (D5) ballistic missile by a Vanguard-class SSBN off the US East Coast on January 30, 2024, after a three-week delay.
The missile departed the launch tube; however, it crashed into the sea only meters from the submarine as a result of a first-stage engine failure. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key were aboard.
According to the UK Ministry of Defense, an anomaly occurred during exercises on January 30 off the coast of Florida; however, nuclear deterrent capabilities remain ‘effective.'”
‘The Sun’ claims that the submarine was underwater during the launch and that the 44-foot missile missed it as it fell back into the Atlantic.
The British tabloid reports that authorities immediately ordered a search to recover the top-secret missile from the seabed near Port Canaveral, Florida, and initiated a frantic investigation to determine the cause of the incident.
The confidence of British naval officials that the firing would have been helpful if it had been conducted in real patrol conditions rather than a test is unclear.
A propulsion failure, an error in programming the flight plan into the missile’s onboard control system, or complications during the submarine’s missile system maintenance could all be responsible for the failed test.
This is likely still under investigation as part of the “frantic investigation” at Kings Bay, where the submarine returned after the unsuccessful missile launch.
This was the second successive failed test since 2016, when the British SSBN HMS Vengeance launched a Trident-II missile on the night of June 20-21. The missile veered off course and headed toward the continental United States before self-destructing.
In dry docks, British strategic submarines undergo extensive repairs over an extended period. For instance, despite commissioning in August 1993, the Vanguard has been undergoing repairs for nine years. In February 2023, a scandal involving broken bolts on the reactor pipelines of the submarine served as an illustration of the quality of these repairs. Fortunately, workers at the defense firm Babcock discovered the mistake of overtightening the bolt heads and reattached them before reactor activation.
The current condition of the British submarine fleet is a source of concern for allies, particularly senior partners across the Atlantic, rather than adversaries. However, it appears that British politicians are not responding to the Heritage Foundation’s pleas to “take their navy more seriously.”
Britain established the National Shipbuilding Strategy in 2018, which aimed to strengthen its ailing fleet by constructing a limited number of warships on a reduced budget.
The British Navy’s decline appears to be irreversible, as it is indicative of the British economy’s overall collapse. This degradation appears to be beyond recovery.