The Dreadnought programme has entered a phase that will take the first boat through the completion of her build, sea trials and certification before she enters service in the early 2030s, while the second submarine progresses to sea trials of her own, according to an answer given in Parliament.
James MacCleary, the Liberal Democrat member for Lewes, asked what progress has been made on the Dreadnought programme in the context of the delivery confidence assessments for Government Major Project Portfolio defence projects.
Luke Pollard, Minister of State for Defence, said: “Good progress is being made on the Dreadnought programme. In July, we announced Delivery Phase 4 (DP4), the latest phase of the programme, which will enable the first-in-class submarine, Dreadnought, to complete her build, sea trials and certification, ahead of entering service in the early 2030s. During this phase, the second boat will progress to sea trials, while the third and fourth boats will achieve key construction milestones.”
Delivery Phase 4 is the funding and contracting step that carries the programme from construction into the trials and certification work needed before a ballistic missile submarine can take on operational patrols. Dreadnought, Valiant, Warspite and King George VI will replace the four Vanguard boats that have maintained continuous at sea deterrence since 1969, and the oldest of those, HMS Vanguard, commissioned in 1993 against a design life of twenty-five years.
Stretching the Vanguard class beyond that design life has produced the longest deterrent patrols in Royal Navy history, including a 204-day patrol completed by HMS Vanguard, and the Defence Committee has examined the strain that places on crews and on the maintenance cycle. The programme’s schedule matters for that reason as much as for the capability itself.
Construction runs at Barrow-in-Furness, where BAE Systems is expanding the yard to build Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS alongside each other, and Rolls-Royce Submarines in Derby supplies the reactor cores. Major facility upgrades needed for Dreadnought core production have been delivered, with work now focused on commissioning and manufacture.
The Defence Investment Plan commits £63 billion over four years to the nuclear enterprise, taking in the submarines, a new sovereign warhead and the infrastructure at Barrow, Derby, Faslane, Coulport and Aldermaston.
