The Diplomat
The British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Audacious, which arrived last weekend in Gibraltar, has loaded Tomahawk land-attack missiles at the Rock’s naval base, according to Navy Lookout, a news and analysis outlet specialising in Royal Navy news and analysis, on its Twitter account.
Navy Lookout offers a photograph of the moment of the loading of the Tomahawk missiles, as well as another showing HMS Audacious alongside the US nuclear-powered submarine USS Georgia, which arrived at the British colony on Wednesday.
The arrival of the USS Georgia provoked, as The Diplomat reported, a formal protest from the Spanish government to the US authorities, who were reminded of the facilities available to the United States at the nearby Rota base, without the need to stop at the Rock.
The coincidence of the British and US submarines led Verdemar Ecologistas en Acción to express in a statement its concern about what it described as “floating bombs” in the Bay of Algeciras.
The HMS Audacious, which is making a port call in Gibraltar for the first time, is one of the most advanced submarines, weighing almost 8,000 tonnes.
It is not known what the submarine’s destination will be, after its stopover at the Gibraltar naval base, and after having loaded the Tomahawks, long-range subsonic cruise missiles that can carry conventional explosives or nuclear warheads.
