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.
“ 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? 🤔
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.
Maybe in case they need to stop the yars test should it accidently head in a wrong direction