Military figures have reinforced the need for submarines to 'stay relevant' and not trade off stealth in favour of advanced communications.
Speaking on the opening of the UDT Europe conference in Alicante, Spain, on 29 May, Cdre Mark Beverstock, head of capability deterrent and underwater, UK MoD, said: 'Communications need to be covert and quick, but the submarine needs to stay relevant.
'The growth we've seen in bandwidth has not been balanced by the submariners,' he said, explaining that the point of submarines is that they are stealthy and that is the mission requirement, and operators know this.
'There's an