- Challenges in Recruiting for the Submarine Service
- Continuous At-Sea Deterrent for Nuclear Security
- Evolving Expectations and Future Expansion
The at-sea deterrent discourages nuclear attacks on the UK by threatening mutually assured devastation.
The submarine service, which provides the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent, is not “awash with people” and efforts are underway to recruit new personnel, according to the chief of the Royal Navy.
Admiral Sir Ben Key attributed the difficulty to a dearth of discussion regarding what it means for the United Kingdom to be a nuclear-armed power – a fundamental pillar of its security.
The First Sea Lord told The House magazine, “I think it is fair to say that this country is not very good at discussing nuclear power as opposed to nuclear weapons.”
He said nuclear power is “extraordinarily safe” at sea.
The Royal Navy’s submarine service, also known as the silent service, maintains four Vanguard-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines and an Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet with conventional rather than nuclear warheads.
The nuclear-armed vessels take turns operating in secrecy for several months at sea.
Their main duty is to ensure that the UK can use a nuclear bomb on a target 24/7.
This continuous at-sea deterrent, which has existed since 1969, is intended to discourage an adversary from launching nuclear weapons against the United Kingdom out of dread of suffering the same fate: mutually assured destruction.
Sustaining the deterrent, however, requires a sufficient number of submariners who are willing to spend months at a time without the ability to communicate with home – often without even knowing where in the world they are deployed.
‘War for Potential’
Admiral Key said it was hard to attract submariners, a top-secret Navy branch.
He stated, “I’m not going to sit here and say we’re overrun with people.”
He disclosed that the Navy is investing in outreach teams to describe submarine life to prospective recruits.
“If you’re a young person considering joining a submarine service, you should talk to a young submariner to find out what it’s really like,” he advised.
More generally, the admiral stated that his service was engaged in a “war for talent.” As the navy re-grows its workforce following decades of cost-cutting reductions.
The First Sea Lord stated, “We are in a war for talent in this country. And that is no great secret.”
“One of the challenges is that, in the navy of today. With a size of 29,000 out of a population of…about 65 million. There are truly very few people who come from a naval family. In contrast, a century ago, many individuals had personal experience with military or naval families.
Additionally, recruits expect improved communication.
The 39-year-old military admiral, 57, was reunited with his wife and children after a six-month trip. At the time, one of them, who was two years old, did not recognize him.
Now, “expectations of contact with loved ones are changing. And the ability for near-permanent connectivity cannot be met in a submarine,” he explained.
The navy is seeking to expand its fleet of nuclear-powered submarines as part of a new strategic partnership with Australia and the United States, which will necessitate the recruitment of additional submariners.
