Submarine propulsion test facility decision due in 2028

SMITE2, a new submarine propulsion testing facility forming part of the wider Submarine Build Modernisation programme, is in its development phase, with dates for the start of construction and for completion to be agreed at a main investment decision point currently expected in 2028, according to an answer given in Parliament.

Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative member for Huntingdon, asked when SMITE2 is scheduled to commence and to be completed.

Luke Pollard, the Minister of State for Defence, said: “SMITE2, a new submarine propulsion testing facility and part of the wider Submarine Build Modernisation programme, is currently in the Development phase. Dates for key milestones, such as start of construction and completion, will be agreed as part of the main investment decision point, which is currently expected in 2028.”

Propulsion test facilities let engineers run a submarine’s power and drive train on land before any of it goes into a hull, shaking out the integration problems in a building where they can be reached with a crane. The alternative is finding them inside a pressure hull after the boat is closed up, which is where cost and schedule go in submarine programmes.

Submarine Build Modernisation is the programme rebuilding the industrial capacity behind the Dreadnought class and the SSN-AUKUS boats that follow, and the work covers facilities at Barrow-in-Furness, at Derby where Rolls-Royce builds the reactors, and across the supply chain. The department awarded BAE Systems £2.4 billion for Royal Navy submarine programmes earlier this year, and separate investment has gone into the Barrow site itself.

An investment decision in 2028 puts construction into the back end of the decade and completion some years after that, which places the facility alongside SSN-AUKUS, well after the Dreadnought build. The first Dreadnought boat is due in the early 2030s and is already building at Barrow, with the keel laid for the next generation missile submarine last year.