<p >The British Ministry of Defence is planning to finance an expansion of its fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines to more than double its current size, with the decision being part of the latest Strategic Defence Review which has prioritised both medium and long term preparations for possible conflict with Russia. The Review stipulates procurement of 12 next generation attack submarines. The Royal Navy currently operates a fleet of just five attack submarines, namely 7,400 Astute Class nuclear-powered vessels, with two more ships of the class currently in testing or under construction. Development of a next generation attack submarine class is expected to take place under the SSN-AUKUS program, and be pursued jointly with the United States and Australia. Plans for a more than twofold of the attack submarine fleet reflects part of a broader trend towards efforts to tremendously expand British warfighting capabilities, with a particular focus on maritime and aerial power projection assets. This aligns with the country’s shift towards a “warfighting readiness” posture stimulated primarily by<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/britain-france-central-role-facilitating-ukrainian-attack-energy-infrastructure" target="_blank"> rising tensions</a> with Russia, but also by a decision to support broader efforts by countries across the Western world to <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/italy-f35-japan-experience-carrier" target="_blank">increase their military presences</a> in East Asia aimed at countering the Chinese challenge to Western regional dominance.&nbsp;</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/06/article_68437e6ac0ecc1_96880437.jpg" title="Astute Class Attack Submarine "></p><p >Astute Class attack submarines are estimated cost the Ministry of Defence over $2 billion each, and when accounting for both inflation and the much higher projected costs of next generation ships with new generations of propulsion, quieting, communications and weapons technologies, the SSN-AUKUS ships are expected to cost well over $3 billion each. The much larger number of vessels that will be fielded will not only have significantly greater sustainment costs, but will also require greater investments in supporting infrastructure. Plans to bring the BAE Systems’ shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness to a projected build rate of one submarine every 18 months, which would mark a major reversal in decades of decline in British shipbuilding, are expected to cost several billion dollars more. Overall the plan to field a fleet of 12 SSN-AUKUS nuclear powered attack submarines is likely to cost well over $40 billion, excluding the tens of billions more in operational costs over the fleet’s lifetime, as the ships are each expected to cost well over $100 million per year.&nbsp;</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/06/article_68437eb85077b8_70759765.jpg" title="British Royal Navy Astute Class Attack Submarine "></p><p >The United Kingdom’s ability to afford a fleet of 12 nuclear-powered attack submarines remains in serious question, particularly when considering both the state of the country’s economy, and the extent of its ambitions for defence procurements in a wide range of other fields, ranging from <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/britain-considers-restoring-second-nuclear-f35a" target="_blank">acquiring a fleet</a> of nuclear armed stealth fighters, to leading a <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/f47-vs-tempest-japan-abandon-europe-america-sixth-gen" target="_blank">program to develop </a>a sixth generation air superiority fighter. Despite <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/shrunk-british-army-makes-me-want-to-cry-h-r-mcmaster-warns-european-forces-too-small-for-ukraine-escalation" target="_blank">deep cuts to the British Army </a>in particular, which has seen its fighting capabilities <a href="https://www.army-technology.com/news/revealed-british-army-no-longer-operates-as90-artillery/" target="_blank">further devastated</a> by donation of equipment to Ukraine on a tremendous scale, the planned programs for the Navy and Air Force are not expected to be affordable, even if defence spending levels are raised to over four percent of GDP. Considering the consistent post-Cold War trend towards major cost overruns and <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/type45-withdrawn-yemen-technical" target="_blank">performance bugs</a> in British weapons programs, which has affected the Astute Class submarine program among others, the possibility of procuring 12 next generation submarines for under $40 billion appears even less likely.&nbsp;The Astute Class fleet itself is unable to reach the intended top speeds it was designed for, and among other issues has suffered from leaks, corrosion, and a number of reliability issues.&nbsp;The consistent trend towards major procurement programs suffering deep cuts, ranging from the highly troubled&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/83-percent-type-45-destroyers-non-operational" target="_blank">Type 45 destroyer </a>which saw the planned fleet sized halved due to cost overruns, to the F-35B fleet which is not expected to reach half of the planned 138 aircraft, deep cuts to the ambitious plan for a fleet of 12 nuclear-powered attack submarines remains likely.</p>
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