The Royal Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) HMS Astute arrived at His Majesty’s Naval base Devonport in Plymouth, Devon, on 30 June 2025 to become the first boat of its class to undergo a Mid Life Re-Validation Period (MLRP).
The Royal Navy noted on its website on 4 July that HMS Astute, which was commissioned on 27 August 2010, has served for the longest first commission in the history of the Silent Service. Babcock will now perform the boat’s multi-million-pound MLRP, although because Astute is fitted with a Core-H type nuclear reactor, unlike previous RH SSN classes, the submarine will not require nuclear refuelling.
The Astute-class SSNs are based at Faslane on the Clyde in Scotland, but Devonport is their main refitting centre. Five boats have so far been commissioned, while boast six, Agamemnon, is due to commission this autumn and boat seven, Achilles, in the later stages of construction in Barrow-in-Furness.
