The Dreadnought programme is the development and manufacture of four new Dreadnought class ballistic missile submarines that will host Trident II D5 nuclear missiles.
The first Dreadnought submarine is expected to enter service in the early 2030s and will have a service life of at least 30 years.
Where is the programme at?
According to an update in the House of Commons library, in May 2018 the MoD signed contracts for the second phase of the build programme.
“That phase had been expected to last for three years. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Delivery Phase 2 (DP2) has now been extended for one year, to March 2022. The MoD estimates that the current work rate on the Dreadnought programme is around 95 per cent of pre-Covid-19 output.”
Under the management of the Dreadnought Alliance Delivery Phase 2 will continue the design and build of the first Dreadnought submarine and commence the build of the second, including furthering the design and manufacture of the nuclear propulsion power plant.
According to the MOD’s 2020 Annual Report the programme remains on schedule, despite the extension of Delivery Phase 2.
We’ll see how this affects delivery I guess, maybe being cynical but sounds like they’re already getting their “but, but covid….” in for any delays.
Andy, you’re always cynical about every bloody thing, I don’t know why you bother even reading the articles on here as you moan about EVERYTHING.
I loathe overly simple contractor fun facts slides. It screams no one is at the helm to me at this point
Now…….. this is a Royal Navy asset that really excites me, over 17,000 tons is a BIG submarine. It’s in the same size category as the full fat US and Russian missile submarines which is a new thing for the Royal Navy.