The United Kingdom awarded contracts worth $4.9 billion total to three British companies to design and manufacture the future SSN-AUKUS nuclear-powered attack submarines.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense signed the Detailed Design and Long Leads phase of work on Oct. 1 with BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Babcock to “progress the program through the design, prototyping and purchase of main long lead components for the first U.K. submarines,” the ministry said in a statement.
This means construction for the U.K. SSN-AUKUS vessels will be able to start in “the coming years” and it aims to ensure the stability of the UK’s domestic supply chains for the submarine.
Under the tripartite AUKUS agreement’s optimal pathway announced in March, Australia, the U.K. and U.S. are cooperating to help Australia field nuclear-powered attack submarines with conventional weapons to replace its Collins-class boats. The SSN-AUKUS boats are expected to incorporate technology from all three countries.
In the early 2030s, the U.S. expects to sell three to five Virginia-class attack submarines to Australia that it can use until the SSN-AUKUS is ready in the late 2030s.
The U.K. and Australia are set to use the same SSN-AUKUS design, but the countries will produce them domestically, separately.
BAE said its share of these awards consists of $4.8 billion. The company underscored it started early design work on the vessel in 2021, so this latest funding will cover development until 2028, “enabling BAE Systems to move into the detailed design phase of the program and begin to procure long-lead items.”
The company said manufacturing of the first SSN-AUKUS will start in the late 2020s.
A version of this story first appeared in Weapons Complex Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily
