Royal Navy submarine HMS Astute has arrived in Devonport to begin a planned mid-life overhaul following 15 years of front-line operations.
The refit, known as a Mid-Life Revalidation Period (MLRP), will be carried out by Babcock and is expected to upgrade key systems and extend the service life of the UK’s first Astute-class attack submarine.
Commissioned in 2010, Astute has operated continuously since entering service, completing patrols across the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indo-Pacific. The boat returned to HM Naval Base Devonport this month following its final deployment of the current commission, which included submarine operations in the Atlantic and support to carrier strike deployments.
While specific operational details remain classified, the submarine has conducted intelligence-gathering missions, supported UK homeland defence, and maintained a conventional strike capability using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles. Astute has also taken part in international exercises, including deployments alongside HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Indo-Pacific and trials with the US Navy.
The Royal Navy marked the end of the submarine’s first commission with a short demonstration voyage from Plymouth, allowing family members and guests to observe life at sea aboard a nuclear-powered attack submarine.
“This snapshot was a small token from the ship’s company to celebrate and thank friends and families for the support and sacrifices made while HMS Astute had been away and on operations,” said Commander Christopher Bate, the submarine’s commanding officer.
Although based on the Clyde at HMNB Faslane, Astute-class submarines undergo major maintenance at Devonport’s dedicated submarine support facilities. The dockyard also handles refits for the Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines.
Five Astute-class boats are currently in service, with the sixth, HMS Agamemnon, due to commission later this year. A seventh, HMS Achilles, remains under construction at BAE Systems’ Barrow shipyard.
The Astute-class is designed for anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, strike missions, and protecting strategic assets. Nuclear-powered but conventionally armed, the boats are expected to remain in service well into the 2030s.
I wonder how long this will take, she must have a considerable amount of counter obsolescence updates and systems improvement in the works over the next 18 months or so.
“Expected to remain in service well until the 2030s,”, I should fekkin hope so considering its 2025 and the final 2 haven’t even entered service yet!
I expect her service life will be dictated by either pressure cycles on her hull or the contents of the kettle.
“Operated continuously”
I thought she was alongside for xx months aling with the others?
Usually the latter, but as for her Corelife it’s all down to how much she has been used, so it’s possible she may get to 30 (2039) if she isn’t thrashed. I do have to wonder if we are consciously husbanding their usage by excessive times against the wall.
I think I posted this to the wrong person. Oops and good afternoon.
Morning mate!
100%, were they not all tied up alongside at one point, talk about journalistic exception, this one is taking the biscuit. Pretty sloppy journalism to be fair.
I’m not sure how planned it was to start now. It seemed to pop back into port a few months ago unexpectedly, and then it only did the first week of the carrier deployment before being replaced by Anson.
Hopefully nothing too serious. But that only leaves one available Astute submarine currently.
Astute was not declared fully operational until 2014 – unless someone has rewritten history.
Yes that’s right but she left Barrow (so reactor and systems all working) in Dec 2009 and as she was the 1st of class her trials were over 4 years. So 2009 is the start date for her operational life mid point is about now.
Am I the only person who read “extend the service life” ? That’s got me scratching my head !
Well she doesn’t need refuelling (thank god) so it must mean some deep maintenance / overhaul of hull / plant and system / equipment upgrades as although they are all the same class there are considerable differences between the 1st 3 boats and the next ones (they really are sub classes).
I do have wonder if this and the excessive time spent docked is a pre curser to the future forward deployment of 1 boat to Australia or they are just husbanding core life to increase service life to 30+ years but without a LOPR.
After all if you want to get to a fleet of 12 SSNs ASAP the quickest (and most cost effective) way to do it would be to extend their service lives to 30 + years (so Astute OOS 2039+) and start to introduce the new RN SSN(A)s in say 2037.
Agree, if they can be made to work for more than thirty years they should be retained. It would be really good if SSN A 1 joined the fleet as the eighth operational boat rather than Astute replacement.
Surely the large amount of time spent alongside must help with their longevity and experience from Vanguard class suggest reactors might go longer without refueling.