Article Summary: The Royal Navy’s Astute-class submarines are among the world’s most advanced nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs), replacing the Trafalgar-class. Armed with Tomahawk Block IV/V cruise missiles and Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes, they excel in both land-strike and anti-ship warfare.
-The Tomahawk Block V offers enhanced range, precision, and in-flight retargeting, while the upgraded Spearfish torpedo features improved guidance and stealth capabilities. The Astute-class also benefits from advanced sonar and stealth technology, enabling long-range detection and virtually unlimited endurance.
-These capabilities make the Astute-class a cornerstone of British naval power projection, ensuring dominance in contested waters and deep-strike warfare scenarios.
Astute-Class Submarines: The Royal Navy’s Ultimate Stealth Attack Force
The Astute-class submarines are the latest generation of nuclear-powered attack submarines, or SSNs, in service with the Royal Navy. Some even say these are the best subs on the planet.
The Astutes will replace the Trafalgar-class — combining stealth capabilities with advanced sensors and a stiff weaponry capability, they are among the most capable SSNs in the world.
Their combat abilities hinge on their two primary weapon systems: the Tomahawk Block IV land-attack cruise missile and the Spearfish heavyweight torpedo.
Tomahawk Block IV Missile System
The Astute-class long-range precision strike weapon is the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile. Boasting a range in excess of 1,600 kilometers, or over 1,000 miles.
Launched from the submarine’s 533mm torpedo tubes, the Asute-class can carry out deep strikes far into enemy territory while also remaining submerged and unexposed to counterattack.
One of the Block IV variant’s more noteworthy features is its ability to loiter for several hours, allowing the missile to remain on station and get targeting updates. The missile is also outfitted with a two-way satellite datalink, which gives it the ability to get updated target coordinates as well as affording it the ability to change course in mid-flight.
However, the Block IV also has a unique observational capability: it can take and send images of previous strikes, or just the situation on the ground in general for battle damage assessments, improving follow-up strikes.
Like their American counterparts, the Astute-class is shifting to the Tomahawk Block V standard.
“In a £265 million contract with the US Government, with maintenance and technical support at the UK sites of BAE Systems, Babcock International and Lockheed Martin, the Royal Navy’s Astute-Class submarines will be armed with an enhanced Block V standard missile, capable of striking severe threats at a range of up to 1,000 miles,” a 2022 Ministry of Defense statement explained.
“The upgraded missile will be able to travel further than the previous Block IV iteration, maintaining a precision-strike capability that is unmatched in range and accuracy. The upgrade will also make the weapon less vulnerable to external threats, with modernised in-flight communication and target selection.”
Spearfish Heavyweight Torpedo
Aerial abilities aside, the Astute-class also posses powerful underwater options for engaging both ships and other submarines. The 533mm Spearfish heavyweight torpedo can cripple or destroy both ships and submarines thanks to its large high-explosive payload.
The Spearfish guidance system is particularly unique and combines both wire guidance as well as an active sonar seeker that affords the torpedo course corrections as well as a target reacquisition capability in case the target is evasive.
Additionally, the Spearfish torpedo has several attack profiles, including direct impact but also a proximity detonation ability, which serves to direct powerful underwater shockwaves toward enemy hulls. The torpedo’s sonar suite makes it hard to jam or distract the torpedo with decoys or other defensive measures.
More recently, the Spearfish program has been updated to incorporate performance improvements. A fiber-optic guidance system replaces the older wire guidance.
An updated warhead, more resistant to accidental detonation, improves safety, and an entirely different fuel system reduces the torpedo’s acoustic signature.
In sum, the Spearfish’s updates make the torpedo capable against more modern threats, including advanced and nearly silent submarines and other surface vessels.
Additional Combat Capabilities
However, weaponry aside, the Astue-class also benefits from advanced sonar and stealth technology, allowing it to operate undetected and unnoticed in contested underwater environments.
Thanks to the sub’s Thales Sonar 2076 system, the Astute-class can detect enemy ships and submarines at extended ranges. The submarines’ nuclear reactors give them virtually unlimited endurance — limited only by crew food requirements.
The combination of Tomahawk Block IV missiles and Spearfish torpedoes affords the Astute-class with a significant strike capability, covering both land and targets at sea, and making the Astute-class a corner stone of the United Kingdom’s naval power projection.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
