Few people beyond the Prime Minister know exactly where the Vanguard submarine is at any one time, as it has to be one of the British military’s most closely-guarded secrets
At any moment, a silent and deadly, dark underwater monster is gliding through the depths beneath the world’s oceans, its payload capable of unleashing absolute horror thousands of miles away.
This is the Vanguard-Class ballistic submarine, carrying the UK’s nuclear deterrent, a sleek-looking 25mph leviathan that lurks in the oceans to give Britain the ultimate protection. Today’s prices put the value of the vessel at £6billion – the deadliest maritime weapon the Royal Navy has ever pointed towards Britain’s enemies.
For decades Britain’s four Vanguards have taken it in turns to slip beneath the waves from their base in Scotland, setting off on secret missions of sometimes six months long. Last year HMS Vanguard returned to base after being on patrol for a record 204 days – the UK’s longest-ever nuclear sub’ deterrent stint as missions have become longer in recent years.
This operation broke previous records for the UK’s Continuous At-Sea Deterrence – CASD- patrols, which are increasingly exceeding five to six months in duration. It may be that the missions are becoming longer because of the threat level increasing around the globe, or that the four subs are taking longer to maintain whilst in dock.
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And the permanent patrols, somewhere in the world’s oceans, costs the UK a staggering £3billion every year, although there has long been a major debate about whether we need it.
One defence source argued: “The nuclear deterrent, which ensures mutual destruction, has protected the UK for many years and is a background threat to foreign adversaries.
“Crews are special as they know each mission they embark upon could result in carrying out an ultimately devastating mission – and to what world would they return to afterwards, if at all?
“They carry out their duties methodically and with purpose but they know that if they are required to go on the offensive, all other options have been explored.
“They are the ultimate deterrent, what controls Britain’s security if a major crisis unfolds and we live in extremely challenging times and under multiple threats.”
Few people beyond the Prime Minister know exactly where the Vanguard is at any one time, as it has to be one of the British military’s most closely-guarded secrets. And it is he or she who makes the ultimate decision on whether to launch a strike with a Trident nuclear missile, in response to an attack by a hostile state.
Their operations are controlled by the MoD’s Submarine Command, in Northwood, near London, and they are based at HMNB Clyde – Faslane – Scotland. This is the permanent home, 40 miles west of Glasgow, for all four Vanguard-class submarines Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant, and Vengeance.
Since 1969, the Royal Navy has operated a continuous at-sea deterrent – at least one nuclear sub always on patrol, the idea being that the enemy never knows where it is. And many crew members don’t know either.
If Britain suffers a first-strike, a nuclear response would be ordered as the cycle of mutually assured destruction accelerates towards armageddon. The argument has long been that this should be enough to dissuade any enemy of the UK’s to attack the mainland with a nuclear weapon. It has held out so far and it goes back more than 60 years.
Trident is closely linked to the US’s nuclear programme, raising concerns about its independence.
The UK think tank Chatham House says: “The missiles are US-built, and the system relies on the US for maintenance. Trident is also expensive, absorbing about six percent of the UK’s defence budget in 2023 – though changes to the way UK Defence classifies spending on nuclear issues means it’s now difficult to say how much Trident on its own costs every year.
“Aside from the cost, alternative nuclear deterrent strategies – including partnership with France or a wider European scheme – pose their own challenges.” However it adds: “In day-to-day operations, the UK’s Trident programme is completely independent from the US. The British Prime Minister can launch the missiles without any external input.”
The nuclear deterrent traces all the way back to 1945 and the post Second World War era, when the UK chiefs of staff, fearing the UK was extremely vulnerable to overwhelming Russian attack, said: “It is our opinion that our only chance of securing a quick decision is by launching a devastating attack with absolute weapons.”
Our first nuclear weapons would have been launched by air. By the mid to late 1950s four squadrons of English Electric Canberra bombers in RAF bases in Germany were equipped with US Mark 7 nuclear bombs. There were also four squadrons of nuclear-armed Canberras based in the UK.
The RAF was the primary nuclear deterrent holder, using “V-bombers” to carry the weapons from 1954 until 1968. The Royal Air Force officially stopped carrying and operating nuclear weapons in 1998, ending 43 years of nuclear capability for the service.
The UK’s submarine service had continued from 1963 to carry the weapons, starting in 1963 with HMS Dreadnought. Britain then switched up to using Resolution Class Polaris subs in 1968, before changing to Vanguard-Class Trident in 1994.
And this Vanguard submarine system will be phased out in the next decade as the UK’s new Dreadnought-class submarines, currently under manufacture, will be launched.
These super-stealthy 169 yard-long, 17,200-tonne submarines are designed with advanced covert capability and will carry Trident II D5 missiles. They will serve the UK for at least 30 years in a world that is already forming military space capability.
And with shifting geopolitics and the threat landscape ever-changing, Britain’s military machine is already preparing for war in the next few years.
