The Royal Navy’s entire available fleet of hunter-killer submarines is stuck in port unable to sail – leaving Britain at risk from Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
In a fresh humiliation for Britain’s Armed Forces, all five of its Astute class submarines are currently laid up awaiting maintenance and other repair work.
Military experts have also warned that the Navy’s lack of available nuclear-powered attack submarines – which carry up to 38 Spearfish torpedoes and a battery of Tomahawk missiles – leaves the UK’s sub-sea internet and power cables dangerously vulnerable to sabotage by the Kremlin.
The subs also play a critical role in protecting the larger Vanguard submarines, which carry the Trident ballistic missiles that make up the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
The extraordinary revelations come just a day after the Mail told how one of Britain’s flagship £3.5billion aircraft carriers had broken down again and was forced into port in Norway for repairs.
And on Friday the head of the UK’s military warned that the threats faced by Britain are greater than at any time since the Cold War.
In stark comments, Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of the Defence Staff, said Russia has been ‘probing, challenging, testing our defences’ and is ‘raising the stakes and risks crossing a line’.
He told the BBC: ‘I’m very clear that this is the most dangerous time I have known in my working life. The risks and threats to this country are greater than I have known since the Cold War.’
HMS Agamemnon, part of the Astute Class of nuclear-powered submarines, ahead of its Commissioning Ceremony, which formally marks the ship’s entry into the Royal Navy’s service, at BAE Systems in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
UK Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, speaking at the Royal United Services Institute in Banqueting House, Whitehall on December 15
Lord West, former First Sea Lord and Labour security minister, last night said it was ‘unacceptable’ and ‘very worrying’ that Astute subs are out of action.
‘The attack submarines are fundamental for looking after our ballistic missile submarines,’ he added.
‘They are fundamental for frightening and terrifying the Russians.
‘The fact that there has not been money invested in dry docks, in the maintenance facilities, in the men required to maintain and repair the submarines, in the spare parts for those submarines is why we have got to this position.
‘It is just unacceptable and puts us in a very difficult position. If we haven’t even got an attack submarine available for use, then things are looking pretty bad.’
Defence analyst Francis Tusa, editor of the Defence Eye website, said: ‘It means that we no longer have a safe, sovereign nuclear deterrent.
‘The first role of our hunter-killer submarines is to protect the Vanguard-class, the ballistic missile subs.
‘Normally speaking they leave the base at Faslane in Scotland one or two weeks ahead of the Vanguards and go out to sea and sweep the area to make sure there are no Russian subs. If we have no subs, we can’t do that.’
HMS Astute, the Royal Navy’s most advanced submarine in the waters off the Isle of Skye
The revelation comes amid mounting anger over Labour’s continued failure to publish a long-delayed review into boosting spending on the Armed Forces.
Westminster sources now say that the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) could finally be published this week.
But in a damning report released last night, MPs on the Commons’ public accounts committee (PAC) warned that the hold-up was already damaging the UK’s economy and security.
Last night, Tory defence spokesman Mark Francois savaged Labour’s performance on defence since coming into power in 2024.
He said: ‘Now we can see the stark effect of Labour’s £3.5billion in-year cuts to Ministry of Defence operational and revenue spending.
‘Their much-vaunted DIP has still not been published, and now this. This Labour government is failing the defences of this country – literally both above and below the waves.’
But naval sources blamed the problems over maintaining the Astute submarines on previous governments for failing to provide the necessary ‘infrastructure’ for them to remain seaworthy.
One said: ‘This isn’t just a recent problem. You cannot take risks with safety and maintenance on a submarine, and there’s been a lack of investment for decades in proving the back-up infrastructure to keeping them safe.’
All five of the current fleet of Astute subs (pictured) were not deployed due to maintenance and other technical issues, an MoD spokesperson said
The Astute boats, which cost £12.2billion, are regarded as the most advanced attack submarines in the world and it is claimed have never been located on sonar by a Russian sub.
However, the fleet – which consists of five already operational submarines, with two more yet to come into service – has suffered a series of problems, including HMS Astute running aground on a mud bank while undergoing trials off the Isle of Skye in 2010.
Last night, naval sources confirmed all five of the current fleet were not deployed due to maintenance and other technical issues.
On Saturday night, naval sources did point out that one of the five Astute class submarines, HMS Anson, had only recently returned from ‘a hugely successful trip Down Under’ ahead of the new ‘AUKUS’ submarine ‘rotational force’ agreement with Australia and the US
They added that the maintenance and safety checks on submarines was particularly important.
One source said: ‘Modern submarines are so technical. If you don’t get them right, it’s the most dangerous thing to be on. That’s why the planned maintenance is so important.’
On Saturday the Mail revealed how the carrier HMS Prince of Wales had been forced into port in Norway for repairs – delaying her departure for the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.
The carrier’s own X account later declared ‘maintenance complete’, with MoD sources saying that it was expected to ‘sail in the coming days’.
The MoD said it did not ‘routinely comment about specific submarine operations and availability’ but insisted British waters were ‘always protected with a range of assets including warships, patrol aircraft and submarines’.
A spokesman added: ‘Strengthening and sustaining our submarine capability is a top priority, and we are taking decisive action to ensure its long-term resilience.’
The long-delayed DIP, which was due to be published last year, has reportedly hit fresh delays over the Treasury’s desire to cut the planned £18billion boost in defence spending over the next four years to £15billion.
The public accounts committee has accused the Government of hindering attempts to modernise the Armed Forces and undermining relations with the defence industry by not releasing the DIP.
However, the MoD responded last night by insisting the plan will fix ‘the outdated, over-committed and underfunded programme we inherited’ and insisted this Government was providing a ‘generational increase in defence spending’.
