Key Points and Summary – Britain’s Astute-class and America’s Virginia-class are NATO’s premier nuclear attack submarines, shaping how the alliance hunts ships and subs.
-This head-to-head weighs displacement, speed, depth, sensors, stealth, and payload. Astute prioritizes quieting, anechoic tiling, and a heavy load of Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Image of Virginia-Class Submarine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Virginia prioritizes fleet scale, high availability, and strike capacity, pairing vertical-launch Tomahawks with Mark 48 torpedoes and Harpoon options.
-Neither class is battle-tested, so the verdict rests on published figures and operational logic, with Astute getting a slight on-paper nod.
-The larger U.S. build plan still matters, but one boat-versus-one, Astute looks marginally stronger today.
Britain’s Astute-Class vs America’s Virginia-Class: Which Is the Best Attack Submarine in NATO?
The United States and the United Kingdom are known for their longstanding “special relationship,” and a key component of that relationship is, of course, the two nations’ steadfast military alliance. And both the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy rightfully take great pride in their submarine fleets.
The U.S. Navy’s Silent Service ravaged Imperial Japan’s Navy and merchant fleet during World War II. Meanwhile, Royal Navy submarines may not have racked up as high a kill tally as their Yank counterparts, but they have earned ample bragging rights of their own: The Churchill-class boat HMS Conqueror accomplished history’s last confirmed sinking of an enemy surface warship by a submarine, doing so on May 2, 1982 against the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano during the Falkland Islands War.
Let’s inject a bit of friendly rivalry into the special relationship here: Between Britain’s Astute-class sub and America’s Virginia-class submersible, which nation has NATO’s best nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs)?
Contender #1: The Astute-Class
Built by the Barrow-in-Furness-based BAE Systems Maritime UK, the Astute-class boats were tabbed to replace the Trafalgar-class hunter-killer subs. The lead ship of the class, the eponymous HMS Astute, was laid down on January 31, 2001, launched on June 8, 2007, commissioned on August 27, 2010, and attained full operational status in May 2014.
US Navy Virginia-class Submarine Under Construction.
Four more of the boats were commissioned between March 2013 and August 2022: HMS Ambush, Artful, Audacious, and Anson. HMS Agamemnon and HMS Achilles are still under construction.
As the official Royal Navy info page proudly proclaims, “The Astute-class submarines are the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy, combining world-leading sensors, design and weaponry in a versatile vessel.” Here’s the tech specs and vital stats:
Displacement: 7,400 tons surfaced; 7,800 tons submerged
Hull Length: 97 meters (318 feet 3 inches)
Beam Width: 11.3 meters (37 feet 1 inch)
Test Depth (aka Safe Operating Depth): In excess of 300 meters (980 feet)
Crew Complement: 98 commissioned officers and enlisted seamen
Armament:
6 x 533 mm (21-inch) torpedo tubes for the Spearfish heavyweight torpedo,
Stowage of up to 38 missiles such as the Tomahawk IV Land Attack Cruise Missile (TLAM)
The powerplant is a Rolls-Royce Pressurized Water Reaction 2 that enables the boats to attain a top speed of 30 knots.
The warships are highly stealthy—as the Royal Navy info page puts it, “the quietest submarines ever constructed”—thanks to coverings consisting of 39,000 anechoic tiles, which are made of a highly classified elastic material containing tiny air pockets optimized to reduce the typical sonar frequencies of homing torpedoes.
Astute-Class Royal Navy Submarine. Image Credit: Royal Navy.
Astute-Class Submarine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Astute-Class Submarine. Image Credit. Creative Commons.
As if that weren’t impressive enough, the Astutes are also endowed with a passive/active sonar that can track targets up to 60 miles away.
Contender #2: The Virginia Class
Not to be outdone, the U.S. Navy tabbed the Virginia-class submarines as the successor to its prestigious and time-honored Los Angeles-class and Seawolf-class SSNs. Built by General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII Newport News Shipbuilding, a total of 26 Virginias have been completed thus far, 24 of which are actively serving.
The newest batch of the boats is the Block IV iteration, which commenced with the USS Vermont (SSN-792). The Vermont was laid down in February 2017, launched on March 29, 2019, and commissioned on April 18, 2020. Meanwhile, the USS Iowa (SSN-797) was commissioned on April 5, 2025, and the USS Massachusetts (SSN-798) and USS Idaho (SSN-799) are both expected to be commissioned sometime next year. An additional 69 are planned, including the upcoming Block V.
As for the Virginias’ vital stats:
Displacement: 7,800 long tons (7,900 t)
Hull Length: 377 ft (114.91 m)
Beam Width: 34 ft (10.36 m)
Test Depth: Officially 800+ ft (240 m), allegedly around 1,600 feet (490 m)
Crew Complement: 135 commissioned officers and enlisted seamen
Armament:
12 × vertically launched missiles; 2 × Virginia payload tubes, each capable of launching 6 × Tomahawk BGM-109 cruise missiles
25 × torpedo tube launched torpedoes & missiles; 4 × 21-inch torpedo tubes for Mark 48 torpedoes or UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles
The powerplant is an S9G nuclear reactor that delivers 40,000 shaft horsepower, pushing the boats to an official top speed of more than 25 knots—and an alleged top speed of up to 35 knots.
Head-to-Head: Which Sub is “Better?”
Unlike either the Churchills or the Los Angeles-class warships, neither the Astutes nor the Virginias have been used in actual combat yet. But comparing the two ships’ vital stats side-by-side, the Astute-class is superior in terms of official, on-paper test depth and max speed.
However, if the claims about the Virginia-class’ true capabilities are to be believed, then the Yank sub has a significant advantage.
Meanwhile, the British boat is more heavily armed, and if the Royal Navy’s official claims are to be taken at face value, then it bests the U.S. Navy contender in terms of a submarine’s single most important attribute (besides its payload, of course): stealth.
“Quantity has a quality all of its own,” and in that sense, the Americans have an unfair advantage.
But on an individual basis, going by verified figures, I’d had to give an ever so slight nod to the Astute.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).