Ministers have confirmed that the intention remains to procure up to twelve SSN-AUKUS submarines, and that the investments needed to establish industrial capacity for a submarine every eighteen months from the mid-2030s have been made, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Andrew Rosindell, the Reform UK member for Romford, asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he would make it his department’s policy to increase total hull numbers in the submarine service.
Luke Pollard, the Minister of State for Defence, said: “As set out in the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), the Ministry of Defence intends to procure up to 12 SSN AUKUS submarines.
“The programme is currently midway through the Detailed Design and Long Lead (D2L2) phase and we anticipate that the number of submarines will be confirmed before the end of this phase in 2028.
“Through the DIP, the Government has made the investments necessary to establish the industrial capacity required to ultimately deliver a submarine every 18 months from the mid-2030s to ensure we can deliver an expanded SSN force.”
Britain currently operates seven Astute class attack submarines, and this publication reported the government’s commitment to build twelve new nuclear attack submarines when the plan appeared. A drumbeat of one boat every eighteen months would be the fastest sustained British submarine production rate since the Cold War, and the figure follows from the capacity being built at Barrow.
Barrow has been expanding through the Barrow Infrastructure Programme, with new build halls, a reconfigured yard and a recruitment effort that has taken the BAE Systems workforce there past twelve thousand. Rolls-Royce Submarines in Derby has doubled its site to produce reactors for both Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS, and the Sheffield Forgemasters work on large forgings feeds the same chain.
Confirmation of the final number before the end of the detailed design phase in 2028 ties the fleet size to what the yard can actually sustain. Senior officials told the Commons Defence Committee earlier this year that submarine fleet size was conditional on Barrow output, and a decision due in 2028 falls inside this Parliament.
Australia will build its own SSN-AUKUS boats at Osborne in South Australia to a common design, and the two production lines are intended to share a supply chain, which is part of the case for the industrial investment on the British side. Dreadnought holds priority at Barrow through the late 2020s, so attack submarine production builds up behind the ballistic missile boats.
Pollard confirmed in a separate answer the same day that steel will be cut on the first British SSN-AUKUS next year, and that the Preliminary Design Review for the class concluded on the first of July. Twelve boats remains an upper bound until the design phase closes.
