The UK and Australia are examining ways to strengthen cooperation between their steel industries to support the AUKUS submarine programme, according to a written parliamentary answer from Defence Minister Luke Pollard.
Responding to Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, Pollard said the issue was discussed during the first Australia–UK Defence Industry Dialogue since 2018, held with Australian Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy.
“I was pleased to host Minister Pat Conroy for the first Australia-UK Defence Industry Dialogue since 2018,” Pollard said. “As one of our closest allies, we had constructive discussions on how we can work together towards a safer and prosperous future.”
Pollard said cooperation through the AUKUS partnership would help strengthen defence industrial capacity across the three participating countries. “A cornerstone of doing so is the AUKUS partnership, which will drive growth, create thousands of jobs and provide new opportunities across the trilateral submarine supply chain, building essential resilience into this vital area of our Defence industry.”
The UK and Australia are now working together to determine how their respective steel industries can best support construction of the next generation SSN-AUKUS submarines. “We continue to work with Australia to understand how each country’s steel industry can provide optimal support for our respective SSN-AUKUS build programmes,” Pollard said.
He added that British industry is already contributing to the programme, with Sheffield Forgemasters manufacturing components for Australia’s future nuclear-powered submarines.
“Opportunities for the UK steel industry have already been realised, with Sheffield Forgemasters producing components for Australia’s SSN-AUKUS submarines.”
Pollard said the work is supported by significant investment in submarine manufacturing capacity, including £6 billion committed by the UK government to submarine infrastructure and a further £2.4 billion from Australia to expand production capacity at Rolls-Royce Submarines and Sheffield Forgemasters.
