UK awards historic $4.9 billion contract to build AUKUS nuclear submarine

Asia-Pacific, Europe, News October 3, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

The United Kingdom has announced the finalization of a $4.9 billion naval contract with BAE Systems to initiate the design and manufacturing of a new nuclear-powered attack submarine. The submarine is a part of the AUKUS program.

The finalization of the contract was announced by the UK Ministry of Defense on October 2, 2023. A Defense Ministry statement said that the contract has been finalized with the BAE System as the primary contract for the design and manufacturing of the nuclear-powered submarine. Rolls-Royce and Babcock are also part of the deal.

The statement said that the contract “represents a significant milestone for both the UK and the trilateral AUKUS program as a whole”.

The new submarine has been named SSN-AUKUS and it would “be the largest, most advanced and most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy.” The Defense Ministry statement said that SSN-AUKUS would “combine world-leading sensors, design, and weaponry in one vessel.”

The finalization of the contract was also confirmed by British Defense Minister Grant Schapps. While speaking at a Conservative Party conference in Manchester on October 2, Schapps said: “This multi-billion-pound investment in the AUKUS submarine program will help deliver the long-term hunter-killer submarine capabilities the UK needs to maintain our strategic advantage and secure our leading place in a contested global order..”

^{Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L), U.S. President Joe Biden (C), and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak meet in San Diego, California on March 13, 2023, for the AUKUS meeting. (Image Credit: Twitter/@AlboMP)}

UK is a part of the AUKUS security pact along with the United States and Australia, which aims to produce and operate nuclear-powered submarines in the Indo-Pacific region. The plans for the SSN-AUKUS submarine were laid earlier this year in March 2023, when the leaders of the three countries met in the U.S.

According to the timeline of production, the first of the nuclear-powered submarines will be delivered into service in the UK in the late 2030s and the first Australian ones will follow in the early 2040s.

Construction of the UK’s submarines will take place at the port of Barrow in England, while Australia will work over the next decade to build up its submarine industrial base to initiate production at its port. BAE Systems would be the primary contractor for the design and manufacturing while Rolls-Royce would supply the nuclear reactors for all UK and Australian submarines.

For a long time, the United States and the UK have been the two exclusive operators of a handful of nuclear-powered submarines, which have far greater stealth and endurance compared to conventional diesel-electric submarines. the AUKUS deal marked the first time Washington shared nuclear-propulsion technology with a country other than the UK.

Apart from helping the UK to build more nuclear-powered submarines, the US plans to sell up to five of its Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra by the early 2030s.

*^{U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered attack submarine PCU Virginia (SSN 774) is moved outdoors at the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard. (Image Credit: General Dynamics Electric Boat/U.S. Navy)}*

Australia’s landmark decision to acquire nuclear-powered submarines gathered praise from the Western allies as it would strengthen their position in the Pacific region against the rising threat of China’s naval modernization. However, France did not perceive the deal as positively as the rest of its allies.

In order to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, Australia unilaterally canceled a $65 billion deal with France to acquire conventional submarines. France described the U.S.-led AUKUS deal as a “stab in the back”, however, the leaders of the two allies countries reconsolidated on the matter later on.

The AUKUS deal has also gathered concerns from regional actors such as Malaysia and Indonesia as the presence of too many nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific Ocean could spark a race for nuclear arms in the region.