The ad hoc protection is the only onboard defense against potential UAV attacks, The Sun has reported
British sailors are drilling to fend off potential drone attacks against £4 billion ($5.3 billion) Vanguard-class subs using fire hoses as the only onboard “air defense weapon,” The Sun has reported.
The hoses, known as “center fed reels” are placed on submarine decks as a precaution when the vessels are moored at the British naval base Clyde in Scotland, the UK’s most sensitive military site, the tabloid reported on Thursday, citing anonymous sources. The equipment has pistol-grip nozzles that would allow sailors to direct water at approaching drones.
“You have to use what you’ve got,” the tabloid cited one of its sources as saying.
The Royal Navy’s four Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines are the only British platforms equipped to carry and launch Trident II nuclear missiles, which deliver the UK’s only operational nuclear weapons. According to The Sun, the Navy insists that layered defenses, including “physical barriers, patrols, surveillance, monitoring, and counter-drone capabilities,” protect the subs.
The report comes as the Royal Navy is facing what a former senior commander has described as its worst crisis in 350 years.
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