19.01.26
Royal Navy sends HMS Anson to Australia despite submarine shortage
Royal Navy submarine HMS Anson arrived in Gibraltar last week, her first stop after sailing from Faslane on 10th January. It was officially confirmed last year that a boat would be going to join Submarine Rotational Force–West in Western Australia during 2026. Defence Minister, Luke Pollard...
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Royal Navy submarine HMS Anson arrived in Gibraltar last week, her first stop after sailing from Faslane on 10th January. It was officially confirmed last year that a boat would be going to join Submarine Rotational Force–West in Western Australia during 2026.
Defence Minister, Luke Pollard,
said in December, that as part of the UK commitment to AUKUS, an Astute-class boat would join SRF-West based at HMAS Stirling, near Perth. Pollard described the deployment as
“a core planning assumption for the RN under AUKUS” and said the government judges the commitment to be
“both realistic and manageable within existing force planning”.
To many observers, the timing of the deployment seems extraordinary as the RN does not have any other SSNs available. Tensions with Russia continue to rise, and their nefarious maritime activity is on the increase. The UK must continue to play its part in AUKUS, but in the short term, perhaps more local concerns should be the priority. Placing the sole attack submarine on the other side of the globe appears to be at odds with vigorous official
warnings to Russia that
“any threat will be met with strength and resolve”.
With the RN frigate numbers at rock bottom and Atlantic Bastion still a concept on paper, the tiny number of SSNs are arguably Britain’s most important conventional deterrent right now. The First Sea Lord said in December,
“I can also tell you today that the advantage that we have enjoyed in the Atlantic since the end of the Second World War is at risk. We are holding on, but not by much”.
The situation is compounded by the potentially catastrophic effects of Trump’s plan to make an enforced takeover of Greenland. This gargantuan and unnecessary folly could rupture the NATO alliance and damage the profound interdependency and trust that exists across the entire spectrum of US and UK defence effort. Recently, USN submarine activity has helped to mitigate the absence of RN boats at sea. Mutually beneficial surveillance cooperation between the US and NATO partners patrolling the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap is foundational to security in the North Atlantic.
The
100-day drive to tackle systemic submarine maintenance delays initiated by General Jenkins in September has now passed. If there have been any results, it is possible that HMS Artful will soon be available to provide at least one SSN for the European theatre, but her return to sea date is not public. The other 4 boats in commission are all at low or very low readiness. HMS Astute is awaiting the completion of HMS Audacious’ maintenance period so she can enter dry dock for mid-life refit. HMS Ambush is understood to be at very low readiness and substantially stripped of parts to support other boats. HMS Agamemnon was commissioned in the shipyard in September but remains many months from being operational.
The length of HMS Anson’s stay in the Pacific has not been clarified, but statements by the US suggest their submarines will rotate through SRF-West after about 6 months. For RN boats, required to make a 9,500nm transit each way, longer periods in Australia might make more sense.
Basing an RN boat at HMAS Stirling for an extended period is not without its upsides. Apart from giving the UK a significantly more sustained and substantial naval presence in the Indo-Pacific, this will help Australian personnel acquire skills in maintaining and operating nuclear-powered submarines. The RN also benefits from regaining submarine operating experience in these waters, something it has not managed consistently for many years. For the submariners, this is a rare opportunity for an overseas posting that offers a break from long Atlantic patrols and a chance to visit places a little more exotic than Faslane.
The deployment of HMS Anson to Australia encapsulates the central tension facing the RN in the mid-2020s. Unavoidable political commitments have been made to AUKUS, yet they are being met by a submarine force running at bare minimum, primarily due to historic underinvestment in support infrastructure. While the benefits of an extended Indo-Pacific presence are real, the short-term exposure created in the North Atlantic is equally stark. Let us hope this is a signal that HMS Artful (and potentially HMS Audacious) can return to the frontline very soon to take their place in more directly defending UK interests. /END
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