A Virginia-class nuclear submarine of the U.S. Navy has arrived in Scotland for a routine port visit this afternoon.
The U.S. Navy has previously said that port visits like this to Faslane “reinforces the United States’ commitment to our Allies and partners in the region and gives crew the opportunity to enjoy the history and culture of the region”.
The U.S. and UK regularly work alongside each other through exercises and operations in support of Allied and partner interests.
“Fast-attack submarines are multi-mission platforms enabling five of the six Navy maritime strategy core capabilities – sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security and deterrence. They are designed to excel in anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship warfare, strike warfare, special operations, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and mine warfare. Fast-attack submarines project power ashore with special operations forces and Tomahawk cruise missiles in the prevention or preparation of regional crises.”
The Virginia class is a fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines built for the U.S. Navy. Designed for both open-ocean and littoral operations, these submarines carry cruise missiles and specialise in anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, and intelligence gathering. They are replacing the ageing Los Angeles-class submarines and the Ohio-class cruise missile variants.
Following the 2025 decommissioning of USS Helena (SSN-725), the Virginia class became the world’s most numerous active submarine class.
Construction of the Virginia class began in 2000, and production will continue through 2043. The submarines are expected to serve until at least 2060, with later models likely remaining active into the 2070s. Built by General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding, the class represents a key element of the U.S. Navy’s long-term undersea warfare strategy, combining endurance, stealth, and versatility.
In 2023, the AUKUS defence partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announced that the Royal Australian Navy would acquire three Virginia-class submarines. This purchase will bridge the gap between Australia’s retiring Collins-class submarines and the future SSN-AUKUS class.
Each Virginia-class submarine displaces between 7,900 and 10,200 tons depending on the block variant and measures up to 460 feet in length. They are powered by an S9G nuclear reactor that provides effectively unlimited range, with endurance limited only by food and maintenance needs. Their armament includes up to 40 vertically launched cruise missiles and four 21-inch torpedo tubes capable of firing Mk-48 torpedoes or Harpoon missiles, reflecting the class’s role as both a precision strike and anti-submarine platform.
Wish we could tell these bastards they aren’t welcome here.
The submariners are fairly chill, and the submarines themselves are world-leading. So long as they don’t bring their politicians, I’m fine.
That’s a pretty ridiculous comment. You might not be a fan of the current US administration, but the submariners aren’t political envoys, they’re professional sailors on a routine port visit.
Blaming them for Washington’s decisions is like blaming Royal Navy crews for whatever goes on in Westminster.
You are lucky they are still willing to help defend your country after you have let them down as an ally by cutting your Armed Forces so much
They are no longer allies or friends in any way other than technicalities. They US will officially turn its back on us in the near future.
The view of a moron.
Our entire national defence is massively subsidised by the US tax payer. Even with Trump and whatever comes later, if we play our cards right we can continue to benefit from that relationship in a way that the rest of Europe might not be able to. Maga is a revolutionary backlash against ‘woke’, left-wing politics. It’s also a response to the decline of the entire northern hemisphere… the US, Europe, and Russia. I think Trump – like him, or loathe him – recognises this. When he looks at Europe, he sees American ‘decline’.
Why can’t you “tell these bastards they aren’t welcome here’? Too cowardly? Or are you afraid the US will tell you parasites “Enough is enough already. Go defend yourselves. We wash our hands of your bankrupt miserable country in terminal decline.”
😂😂😂😂 oh I love a good WUM !!!
Be cool with these folks, half that military is disgusted by developments, if they break and need to flee, we’ll be their main port of call and that military, even a quarter of it turning mutineers and coming here would bode well for a future fight with Russia.
Not all Americans are the same, just like not all English are the same.
Just visiting, or is Trump going to declare war on the UK too to get all the remaining North Sea oil & gas?
It’s here to cover a capability gap here, because we don’t have anything that works?