Britain has zero active submarines at sea for now
Astute-class boat (photo: wikipedia.org)
The United Kingdom has been left without a single attack submarine actively deployed at sea. The reason is the growing difficulty of maintaining the fleet's operational readiness, according to the UK Defense Journal.
The media says that the Royal Navy's attack submarine fleet is struggling to deploy vessels at sea, and the problem has now reached the point where none of the available submarines are currently on patrol. As a result, the country has temporarily lost one of its most powerful naval capabilities.
A similar situation has occurred before, including recently. However, the trend suggests that most of the fleet now spends significantly more time docked than operating in open waters.
According to open-source tracking data, all five operational Astute-class submarines are currently at base. Two are effectively out of service in Faslane, two others are undergoing lengthy overhauls in Devonport, and the fifth recently returned from deployment.
"Only one boat of the entire force has returned from sea in the more recent weeks, and she now sits alongside at Devonport in the routine that follows a deployment rather than in any state of readiness, so that her return has done little to relieve the pressure on a service which has, in practical terms, run out of submarines to send out," the outlet states.
The sixth Astute-class submarine has entered service but is still undergoing trials and is not yet ready for frontline deployment. Meanwhile, the seventh—the last submarine planned under the program—remains under construction.
The publication explains that the shortage of submarines at sea is linked to the fact that major overhauls and modernization work can only be carried out at a single facility.
These limitations are compounded by shortages of spare parts, engineering specialists, and submarine crews. According to the report, one submarine was even stripped of certain components to keep others operational.
The publication concludes that the consequences are serious, as these submarines are among the Royal Navy's most valuable tools for covert surveillance of Russian vessels in the North Atlantic. This is especially significant given the increase in Russian submarine activity around the British Isles, while Astute-class submarines play a key role in protecting the UK's nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines.
Based on the report, Astute-class vessels are also the UK's only platform capable of launching land-attack Tomahawk cruise missiles and form a central element of the protection and reach expected from a carrier strike group at sea.
Britain may lose its position
At the end of 2025, Royal Navy commander Gwyn Jenkins warned that the United Kingdom was close to losing control of the Atlantic to Russia for the first time since World War II.
He said the fleet would struggle to keep pace without rapid modernization and support from NATO allies.
Previously, reports emerged in December 2025 that Britain had stepped up work on the Atlantic Bastion program to accelerate the development of underwater defense capabilities amid growing Russian activity.
