HMS Astute has been spotted with Tomahawk cruise missiles in Gibraltar.
HMS Astute, the lead vessel of the Astute-class submarines, is equipped with advanced stealth capabilities and a suite of offensive weapons, including TLAMs. These missiles provide the Royal Navy with a strategic land-attack option, capable of striking targets with precision at distances up to 1,000 miles.
The loading of TLAMs in Gibraltar is a routine procedure that ensures the submarine remains mission-ready during extended deployments. Gibraltar’s strategic location at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea makes it a vital logistics hub for the Royal Navy, offering resupply and maintenance facilities for vessels operating in the region.
HMS Astute is currently participating in Operation Highmast, the UK’s premier naval deployment of 2025. This eight-month mission, led by the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales, involves a Carrier Strike Group (CSG) conducting exercises and operations with allied forces across the Mediterranean, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Australia.
Operation Highmast aims to demonstrate the UK’s commitment to global maritime security and the rules-based international order. The deployment includes participation in large-scale NATO exercises, such as Neptune Strike 2025, and bilateral engagements with partner nations. The presence of HMS Astute within the CSG enhances the group’s capabilities, providing advanced underwater intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as precision strike options.
The missile
The Tomahawk missile, also known as TLAM, allows Royal Navy submarines of the Astute class to strike at targets on land accurately at a range of around 1,000 miles.
The Tomahawk missile is a highly accurate, GPS-enabled weapon that the US and allied militaries have used more than 2,000 times in combat, and flight-tested 500 times according to the manufacturer. In 2017, U.S. Navy surface vessels launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets on a Syrian airbase. It’s important to remember that Tomahawk is a cruise missile, so rather than taking on a ballistic trajectory, it stays close to the ground, steering around terrain features, using a jet engine instead of a rocket engine to fly.
The missile has been in use with the Royal Navy since the late 1990s and has been used in the Kosovo conflict and in the campaigns against the Taliban, Saddam Hussein, and Gaddafi. The UK last bought 65 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles in July 2014.
| Primary Function: Long-range subsonic cruise missile for striking high-value or heavily defended land targets. |
| Contractor: Raytheon Missile Systems Company, Tucson, AZ. |
| Date Deployed: Block II TLAM-A IOC – 1984, Block III – IOC 1994, Block IV – IOC 2004. |
| Propulsion: Williams International F107 cruise turbo-fan engine; ARC/CSD solid-fuel booster |
| Length: 20.3 feet; with booster: 20 feet 6 inches (6.25 meters). |
| Diameter: 21 inches |
| Wingspan: 8 feet 9 inches (2.67 meters). |
| Weight: 3,330 pounds with rocket motor. |
| Speed: Subsonic – about 550 mph (880 km/h). |
| Range: Block III TLAM-C – 900 nautical miles (1,000 statute miles, 1,600 km). Block III TLAM-D – 700 nautical miles (800 statute miles, 1,250 km). Block IV TLAM-E – 900 nautical miles (1,000 statute miles, 1,600 km). |
| Guidance System: INS, TERCOM, DSMAC, and GPS. |
| Warhead: Block III TLAM-C and Block IV TLAM-E – 1,000 pound class unitary warhead. Block III TLAM-D – conventional submunitions dispenser with combined effect bomblets. |
I hope Starmer remembers that GIBRALTAR IS BRITISH.
Gibraltar belongs to the Spanish and the Falklands is ARGENTINA
I’m sure there are a lot of ex service people here who will appreciate your comments, particularly the second one.
🥱
You belong in bed for being a naughty boy.
Take his catapult off him! And no sweets for a week.
Yeah there’s a whole process of winning a war you have to go through before you even get to turn a claim of sovereignty into actual sovereignty. Give me a call when either the 2 countries you advocate for get around to achieving that.
Not even remotely ‘funny’ twat!
You want to tell Spain about it’s three ‘colonies’ in north Africa first, troll!
Hi Malcolm. Agree he is an eejit. I thought there were only two-Ceuta and Melilla?
I thought there were 2 but there are 3 one is a small section of coast on a peninsula inhabited by a small garrison. Throwing stones in glass houses….
Good Morning Malcolm-from Durban. Indeed -arch hypocrites although it must be said that many Moroccan immigrants trying to gain access to these first world enclaves, is a telling commentary on the state of their own country!!
Try reading the Treaty of Utrecht.
How to show others you have no understanding of history or social context without saying you have no such understanding. Made me chuckle 😃
Really and what legal precedence does Argentina own the Falklands.. simply because it says it owns them and wants them..or some 600 year old missive by a pope that decreed the world was to be divided between the two catholic powers of the time ?
The Falklands belong to the Falkland Islanders, who have lived there for generations and choose to remain a British overseas territory.
Predictably, here come the commentators with no grasp on reality or international law. The Falklands are British always will be, Gibraltar is a British overseas territory given to the UK by Spain, it is therefore up to the UK whether it gives the territory back, there is no compulsion or legal reason to enforce our great nation to do that.
Oh dear, a poor effort at trolling, however your typed English has a slight issue has been noted but its good that those in the troll community allows the less educated and more simple minded are allowed to participate in that sad poorly paid job role.
Sad that the fear of Spanish diplomatic protests has led to Gibraltar becoming considered an unacceptable port of call for the carriers – no visits since 2021. The Rock would have been great first stop for CSG25, and marvellous to have seen the historic harbour full of grey ships once again. I suppose the participation of a Spanish frigate in the first leg of CSG25 made it a double no nada.
Yep, I agree. I would get the carriers to call in just for the principal of it.
“ and what looks like a replacement crew that was also waiting quayside”
Very sensible to rotate crews through the working Astutes and keep deployments shorter.
Why wouldn’t they load them up in the UK? Save pissing about, cost and giving the Spanish summat to moan about. It’s not as if they’ve blatted them off and need replenishment.
Good question, there is absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t be loaded in the UK. In fact, loading everything in their home base is usually the norm, it’s not as if we have to send anyone a ‘message’!
I thought that is exactly what it was mate?
We’ve seen TLAM loaded there before.
It might well be the case mate, but why? It’s been done before, like you say, last year sometime I seem to remember, so, not sure what effect it has now? Far better to just send the SSN on its way and let everyone ‘guess’.
Also can’t understand why Astute has come all the way back to Gib to load a few rockets, with the rest of the CSG about to enter the Suez? Why didn’t see load up on her way into the Med some 2 weeks ago, doesn’t make sense to me I’m afraid. Astute will be playing catch up wrt CSG location for a while now, depending on when the Suez transit is.
Mate. You’re the SME here, so, yes.
Why not stop on the way out
Unless another SSN is out there and taken over and Astutes been retasked.
Perhaps they just forgot to load them when they departed Gib a couple of weeks ago, and had to go back for them. Happens to me all the time these days.
Deep,
Possible Block Va and/or Vb TLAMs (currently in production?) made available for Op Highmast? May wish to be locked and loaded w/ latest versions before sailing into the SCS? 🤔
Is it more to do with crew rotation?
Could this be a test for the AUKUS model of keeping subs intensively deployed by crew swapping?
The article doesn’t mention a date for this occurence and i’d be very disappointed if it gave any indication of timescale. I’d be very surprised if this didn’t happen some time ago. Just sayin’
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the SSN might go around the Cape..? Which would explain the trip back to Gib, maybe? Of course, given the ‘no comment’ rule around sub movements that could be completely wrong…
Cheers CR
Hi @FUSAF,believe we are in process of updating our missi,especially like you say, so thought that they would have been loaded in the UK. It’s a long way back from the E Med to Gib then back again!
Hi @SB, that’s not a who,eventually crew, just some 5th watch joining, might be swapping some crew around, but they’ve only been away what 3 weeks, bit early to start such a rotation, but not unheard of.
Hi @ CR, we don’t really send boatsaround the Cape anymore unless absolutely desperate, it adds some 2-3 weeks to said transit and burns through a s*** load of core hours just getting to the end of the Red Sea. Far easier/quicker just to transit the Suez with the rest of the CSG.
@DM, Hi mate, not sure about retasking, slightly surprised that Astute is with the CSG, oldest boat of the lot and like both Artful/Ambush in dire need of a refit thanks to the Vanguard fiasco. Believe Audacious must also be due a serious docking, which to me only really leaves Anson. Somewhat surprising that she wasn’t tasked with accompanying CSG, so assuming she has other tasking? Time will no doubt tell, be interesting to see which one actually goes through the Suez in the next week or so.
Maybe something changed operationally and they need a load of tomahawks for some reason.. it will be interesting to see if they get used.
Maybe a stockpile of TLAMs are forward deployed in Gib.
Given the extent of the tunnel system you could have a huge amount of materiel and manpower on The Rock….
I’d read Kings Lines POL depot has been reopened, and that an munitions store also exists there, somewhere.
For obvious reasons, I’ve never pinpointed it.
The fuel depot was announced.
The munitions depot was never really closed….just mothballed….
👍 SB
I suppose to ensure that the subs can be loaded in Gibraltar, so that in case of a war in future they can divert there to reload if unable to in the UK e.g. due to damage from missile strikes, risk of returning or even just that Gibraltar is closer, enabling a quicker reload/resupply.
That would make sense, but for it to work they would have to practice it from time to time. It looks like a delicate operation so perhaps sending a SSN out of it’s way occasionally is deliberate to keep the local support teams current and involved.
Cheers CR
Well having to go back to the UK to reload is an a couple of days sail so best part of a week when you have to go both ways, so loading in Gib can save time/improve availability. I’m sure there are some in the UK too if that was closer….
Not many to load up on if I recall correctly.
The UK bought around 120 I believe, and has used around 80 or so. And they stopped production of the tube launched version a long time ago, although I’ve heard rumours that production may be restarting.
194 have been bought,
• 65 Block III rounds entered service in 1998
• 64 Block IV were purchased in 2004
• 65 bought in 2014
According to NavyLookout thought to be about 100 left, currently undergoing upgrade from Block IV to Block V standard.
In future I doubt we will see this level of openness on munitions purchase levels.
Particularly as a lot of what we are buying isn’t FMS controlled which is where this data came from.
Depends, I suspect if we buy a lot it will communicated, after all cruise missiles are a conventional strategic deterrent, not just a tactical weapon and so for it to work as a strategic deterrent you need to communicate capability and credibility and a big part of that is telling your enemies exactly how many cruise missiles they will be hit in face with.
I’d be surprised if we buy more tomahawk other than for submarine launch TBH.
It is rather more likely that we buy a mountain of the Anglo-French or we develop something cheaper ourselves.
We have the terrain following IP from Tonka.
We know how to
– build a large sub sonic missile that can be tube launched; and
– guide it
– design the warhead
The rest is a matter of will.
I think we will see a Hi-Lo mix of long range weapons. Just as we have developed Sea Ceptor which is perfectly competent at @£200k/shot we will see a cheapo UK long range missile that we can afford to have a large pile of.
TBH even our ‘Lo’ end systems will be fine for dealing with the Russians….and the issue is how big a day one *accurate* battering any country actually take. And if it can be repeated at will any number of times then it becomes a different calculus as the Russians cannot do dispersal.
Yes I think a lot of the messaging seems to be around the UKs future ability to hurt Russia.. there is a difference between the exquisite capability that helps you win a specific battle ( something the west has always been good at) and that mass you need to actually hurt another nation to the point it can be driven to negotiate peace. I think the Ukraine war has started to change the western paradigm from “ you just need to win the battle to win the war” to an understanding that if you cannot inflict massive ongoing pain on a nation you will never win or bring to an end a peer war.
I agree that means a two tier approach, essentially the Uk needs a way to throw lots of harm at Russia and that does not need to be exquisite..it needs to good enough, cheap and easy to build, via lots of different platforms.. so the flow of damage can be continuous over years and years.
Agree, would presume many ENATO countries are revaluating all munitions stockpiles, based upon Ukraine experience. Hopefully, the tasking of MIC to reduce ahelf-life obsolescence/wasteage issues has already been initiated. 🤞
Hi Spock.. The UK did order a further 20 Block III Tomahawks after the Kosovo war. So in total some 214 Tomahawks have been ordered by the UK since the 1990’s.
But as you say the remaining ones are all being upgraded. One article I read said that had started last year.
Carrickfergus?
Maybe in case they need to stop the yars test should it accidently head in a wrong direction
Why is there so little media coverage on CSG25? In 2021 we got an update almost every day.
It’s a good question. For example, we were told that more F-35s would be joining and there were rumours that many would be flying back before the carrier group went through Suez, but so far we haven’t even seen the eighteen fixed-wing planes on deck that the carrier left with. At least I haven’t. We don’t know what or when anything is going to happen. It’s been reported unofficially that the group will rush through the Red Sea keeping fingers crossed it won’t get attacked by Houthis and will make full speed to Australia for an exercise. That’s pretty much it. Too much rumour and gossip. The Navy doesn’t seem in control of the message this time around.
Of course, exercising carrier operations is important. Of course getting fixed wing pilots and engineers experience of flying and maintaining the F-35s is critical to carrier force projection, but that’s not all a set-piece deployment like this is for. The Navy should be milking it to get higher profile and increased recruiting. It should be showing the power projection on the world’s stage. Let’s hope this once in four year opportunity for the Royal Navy and Britain is not being spoiled for some accountant’s ha’porth of tar.
I agree this is PR and recruitment gold dust.
Sir Humphrey on TPL has talked about the difficulty of getting approvals to release or post.
The part of the trip the MoD must be worried about is the Red Sea passage and they can hardly keep that a secret given the photo opportunities when passing through Suez.
Maybe RN PR is trying to keep a low profile until they are safely through the Red Sea danger area especially now the USS Truman is said to be on her way home.
The activities in the Med could have had more publicity and should have.
I get the OPSEC side of things but releases can be delayed and made out of sequence.
No idea why they try and keep a low profile as anyone with a pair of binos will see HMS Prince of Wales coming through the narrows and the regional ‘powers’ can have spotters on a prop driven plane tracking her over their own sovereign land.
The only thing you can obfuscate a bit is when CSG arrives at the narrows.
Spot on. I’ve had the same thoughts myself.
Seen no photos of a deck well stocked with F35, hardly any film of movements.
Bizzare.
Are these the ones they sacrificed all our infantry battalions for
Hi Daniele! I wonder if they can be armed with tactical Nuke warheads? a quick and easy way to upgrade the Nuke deterrent?
ps How were those elephants !? 🙂
Morning geoff.
Knowing the UK, it wouldn’t be quick or easy!