The oldest of the Royal Navy’s ballistic missile submarines, HMS Vanguard is currently in Devonport undergoing major refit and refuelling. There are strong indications the project is in trouble and she will be unable to return to service at the start of 2020 as originally scheduled, with knock-on effects for the 3 remaining boats that maintain the nuclear deterrent.| Navy Lookout
In March 2014 the MoD admitted there was a minor concern about the integrity of the nuclear reactors which power Vanguard class submarines. As a precaution, HMS Vanguard currently in refit at Devonport has been given a second new reactor core. This week the government quietly announced that technical assessments have now concluded this procedure will not be necessary for the other three boats. | Navy Lookout
The first of Britain’s new nuclear deterrent submarines, HMS Dreadnought has now been under construction for over 4 years. Although still relatively early days and available information is inevitably limited, some further details of the boat’s design and progress on this vast project have emerged since our first article on the subject in 2017.| Navy Lookout
