UK Royal Navy Seeks More Submarines, Destroyers & Arsenal Ship

by Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News

A new report in the UK has come out with a shopping list of what the Royal Navy needs to deal with future challenges, at a time when the upcoming election raises questions about defense spending..

Among the recommendations – build more submarines, frigates, destroyers and supply ships. Plus, the navy is urged to embrace the idea of an “arsenal ship”, a vessel capable of firing large numbers of missiles.

All this is included in the report called “A More Lethal Royal Navy: Sharpening Britain’s Naval Power.” It was written by William Freer and Emma Salisbury and published by the Council on Geostrategy, which says it has a “particular focus on Britain’s naval power and reach.”

The forward to the report notes that “a number of hostile states and competitors have grown stronger at sea over the past decade, countries which have sought to subvert the international order. To meet this challenge, it is widely acknowledged that Britain needs a larger and even more capable fleet.”

The Royal Navy currently has six nuclear attack submarines (SSNs) – five Astute class, with two more in the works, and one Trafalgar class. Under the new AUKUS program, a joint effort with the US and Australia, the Astute class subs would be replaced by a new class of SSNs. The report urges the UK to buy 12 of those submarines.

It also says the navy should “ensure their design has significant land-attack and anti-ship missile capability, including vertical launching systems,” which could eventually serve as a platform for future hypersonic cruise missiles.”

The report notes that the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigate is aging and heavily overworked, and urges they be replaced by buying more Type 26 and Type 32 models. It also suggests that the Type 26 be equipped with the Anti-Submarine (ASROC) system.