Britain’s submarine fleet is in a “parlous state”, a former navy chief has warned, amid the growing underwater threat from Russia.
Labour peer Lord West of Spithead, speaking at Westminster, said the silent service was in its worst condition across his 60 years of military service.
The former defence minister informed parliament it was “horrifying” that at times last year, the UK lacked a single operational attack submarine.
He also raised concerns over the pressures faced by the nation’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent.
Lord West made his hard-hitting comments as Defence Secretary John Healey announced plans for a new multimillion pound high-tech force to protect undersea cables and pipelines against Russian attack.
The hybrid naval force, named Atlantic Bastion, will combine autonomous vehicles and AI with warships and aircraft to identify threats to underwater structure and to defend them from interference.
The UK and its Nato allies have become increasingly concerned about the risk Moscow poses to seabed cables and pipelines, which carry most of Britain’s international telecommunications data and vital energy supplies such as electricity, oil and gas.
This has been underlined by the activities of Russian spy ships such as the Yantar, which have the capability to sabotage these links.
Attacks on undersea infrastructure could cause “catastrophic disruption” to the financial and communications systems Britons rely on, the National Security Strategy Committee warned in a September report.
Against this backdrop, Lord West told ministers: “Our submarine force is in a parlous state, the worst in my 60 years of service.
“Successive delays in ordering, a lack of dry dock investment, the failure to recruit and train the requisite nuclear personnel, training delays for those we have got, lack of spares and lack of maintenance, have all taken their toll.
“Does our nation realise that, for the last year, this great maritime nation has had one attack submarine operational for most of the time? Some of the time, it has not had one at all.
“That is pretty horrifying for a maritime nation of our stature.
“These submarines are war winners. They frighten (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and are what we use to give the Soviets a hard time with. That is where we have got to on that.”
He added: “In terms of a continuous at-sea deterrent, at the moment the boats are having to do 200-day patrols, with no fallback should something go wrong.
“We have maintained it, it is an amazing effort to do it, but my God, we should not be in that position.”
While he believed the Ministry of Defence “understand this”, with urgent steps being taken by the current First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, to improve the availability and readiness of the Royal Navy’s attack submarines, Lord West urged ministers to go back to the Treasury and demand extra funding to support these efforts.
Defence minister Lord Coaker said more funding had been secured and investment was being made.
The Labour frontbencher told the upper chamber: “We are seeking to address some of the challenges that he pointed out.”
Lord Coaker added: “I am also pleased to announce to the House that the recruitment and retention (of) submariners have improved as well.
“I accept the challenges he lays out but, with the First Sea Lord and others, we seek to address that quickly and urgently.”
