BAE systems awarded $7.5bn to develop AUKUS submarine

SSN-Aukus will be the most powerful and advanced attack subs the Royal Navy has operated and will be jointly operated with Australia.

A nuclear attack submarine on sea trials in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Ministry of Defence has awarded $7.5bn (£3.95 billion) of funding to BAE Systems for the next phase of the UK’s next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarine program.

SSN-Aukus will be the largest, most powerful and advanced attack submarines the Royal Navy has operated and will eventually replace the Astute class, which BAE Systems builds at its site in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The funding follows the AUKUS announcement in March by the UK, Australia and the US.

Australia and the UK will operate the submarines, which will be based on Britain’s next-generation design and incorporate technology from all three nations.

Having started early design work in 2021, the £3.95 billion funding will cover development work at BAE Systems to 2028, enabling the company to move into the detailed design phase of the program. Manufacture will start towards the end of the decade, with the first SSN-Aukus submarine due to be delivered in the late 2030s.

The award will also fund significant infrastructure investment at Barrow-in-Furness, investment in the site’s supply chain and the recruitment of more than 5,000 people.

Grant Shapps, defence secretary, said: “This multi-billion-pound investment in the AUKUS submarine program will help deliver the long-term hunter-killer submarine capabilities the UK needs to maintain our strategic advantage and secure our leading place in a contested global order.”

Charles Woodburn, BAE Systems’ chief executive, said: “We’re incredibly proud of our role in the delivery of this vitally important, tri-nation submarine program. This funding reinforces the government’s support to our UK submarine enterprise and allows us to mature the design and invest in critical skills and infrastructure to support our long-term national security.”

The British engineering company Babcock has signed a five-year contract with the MoD to provide input into the detailed design for the new submarine class. This is also the chosen design that Australia will use to build its new fleet.

The Times