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The Royal Navy nuclear submarines’ sailors have allegedly been trained to defend the fleet from drone attacks using ‘fire hoses’, UK tabloid The Sun reports.
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Despite the €6.5 billion Vanguard-class submersibles being armed with nuclear ballistic missiles, they allegedly use high-pressure water jets to defend themselves from air attacks.
These water jets, located on submarine decks as a defensive weapon when the vessels are at dock, are their main defences from drone attacks.
Several layers of defence are present to protect docked submarines, said the Navy, including “physical barriers, patrols, surveillance, monitoring, and counter-drone capabilities”, UK newspaper reports. The water hoses are set to be manipulated by sailors standing on deck and aimed at drones that bypass land-based defences.
The fire hoses are designed to defend against small and medium-range FPV drones, while long-range Iranian Shaheds or Russian Gerbera drones would be intercepted by Royal Air Force fighter jets.
“We always thought this would be for small spy drones or civilian dicking around — but the threats moved on a lot”, said a Navy source to The Sun.
‘At risk of drones’
Faslane base, located north-west of Glasgow in Scotland, is one of UK’s most sensitive military sites, home to its nuclear submarine fleet. Even though it is protected from naval attacks because it is far inside a bay, it could be particularly vulnerable to drone attacks.
“Gare Loch has excellent natural protection against enemy submarines, but the topography leaves it at risk of drones”, a Navy source told The Sun.
“There are lots of public roads, people can roam on the hills. If several drones were launched nearby, there is less time to react”.
“Faslane is very clearly of interest to hostile states. We know it has been targeted before, and it would not be surprising if it was targeted again”, Charlie Williams, researcher and defence analyst at the London-based think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), told The Sun.
“It is very surprising they are relying on fire hoses to defend the submarines. We have to hope the Ministry of Defence is investing in the right kind of capability to defend it”.
He says Russia has flown hundreds of drones over nuclear sites throughout Europe, including France’s Île Longue nuclear submarine base and Royal Air Force Lakenheath in Suffolk.
“The protection of our bases is kept under constant review”, said UK’s Ministry of Defence spokesman. “Through the Defence Investment Plan, we are investing an additional £470million (€554 million) over the next four years to strengthen the protection of UK military sites”.
