Home Sea Dreadnought nuclear sub project ‘supports up to 30,000 jobs’

635616823279332809-RS19224-Successor-AboveWater-CROPPED---NO-WORDING — An artists impression of the currently in-build Dreadnought.

Dreadnought nuclear sub project ‘supports up to 30,000 jobs’

March 31, 2021

New research comisisoned by BAE has suggested that the UK’s Dreadnought Submarine Programme supports tens of thousands of jobs across the UK.

BAE Systems has revealed the significant contribution the Dreadnought submarine programme makes to the UK economy, supporting almost 30,000 jobs across the country.

“While nearly half of these jobs reside in the North West of England, the supply chain for Dreadnought extends to every region of the UK. Working with partners Rolls-Royce and the Submarine Delivery Agency as part of the Dreadnought Alliance, BAE Systems estimates it will spend in the region of £7.5 billion with 1,500 supply chain companies over the life of the programme across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Dreadnought class boats will be the Royal Navy’s biggest, most powerful and most technically advanced submarines when they begin to enter service from the early 2030s and will play a pivotal role in the nation’s defence and security for decades to come. Work on the first two boats in the class is well underway at the Company’s shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.”

The research, which BAE say highlights the scale and influence the programme has on the UK’s industrial base and its contribution to the country’s economic prosperity, comes as the Government has reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining the UK’s Continuous At Sea Deterrent.

Key findings of the research include:

£2.5 billion worth of contracts have already been placed with suppliers across the UK, including:
- North West – £400m spent to date, including on power systems and sensors, supporting 13,500 jobs;
- Yorkshire and Humber – £350m spent to date, including on gear boxes and steel, supporting 2,500 jobs;
- South East – £235m spent to date, including on electrical systems, antenna systems and control panels, supporting 2,500 jobs;
- Scotland – £215m spent to date, including on periscopes, supporting 2,000 jobs.
Of the 30,000 jobs which are sustained by the Dreadnought programme, nearly 8,000 are directly employed by BAE Systems, with 11,800 jobs in the programme’s supply chain and a further 10,200 (induced) jobs supported across the country.
Dreadnought will have a sustained and lasting impact on UK employment, supporting thousands of jobs reaching all UK regions to at least 2035.

You can read more here.