UK government help fund new nuclear-powered subs

A planned class of nuclear-powered fleet submarine (SSN) intended to enter service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the late 2030s and Royal Australian Navy in the 2040s, the SSN-AUKUS will replace the UK's Astute class and Australia's Collins class submarines.

Australia plans to build eight SSN-AUKUS submarines in addition to acquiring three nuclear-powered Virginia class submarines from the United States.

Originally scheduled to last three years, the concept phase of the programme began in 2018 but was suspended for two years due to delays in the Astute-class and Dreadnaught-class delivery programme.

An investment of £170 million by the UK government in the form of two £85 million contracts to BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce Holdings for early design work on the SSNR resulted in the programme going ahead. In October, a series of contracts worth £4 billion was announced to support the design and development of the submarine class up to 2028. These contracts will fund the finalisation of the submarine design, as well as procure long-lead items for the first UK submarine. The investment will be followed by continuous funding over the next ten years to support the submarine development programme.

Australia is expected to invest up to A$368bn ($244.9bn) over the next 30 years in the SSN-AUKUS development programme, including investments to upgrade the Osborne Naval shipyard and the HMAS Stirling naval base.

SSN AUKUS

The Royal Australian Navy will acquire eight SSN-AUKUS class boats that will be built at Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia. The UK and US intend to provide Australia with nuclear material in complete, welded nuclear power units as Australia will not produce its nuclear power.

A trilateral agreement between Australia, the UK and the US collaborating through the AUKUS enhanced security partnership to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarine capability and to jointly create a new class of attack submarines that are aimed at strengthening undersea capabilities, enhancing deterrence and countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The integration of propulsion, sensors and weapon systems as well as the common vertical launch system in the SSN-AUKUS will be based on the Virginia-class technologies from the US. The submarine will be equipped for advanced intelligence, surveillance, underwater warfare and strike missions.

Rolls-Royce pressurised water reactor, manufactured at an expanded Rolls Royce Raynesway site in Derby, will power the subs.

Investment details

Australia’s investment in the programme will also strengthen the industrial bases in the UK and the US to build and support the submarines.

AUKUS is a defence and security partnership between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, announced in September 2021.

A major part of the agreement (pillar 1) is to support Australia in acquiring its first conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet. It does not involve the transfer of nuclear weapons to Australia.

Delivery of the AUKUS submarine programme

In a Joint Statement on 13 March 2023, the AUKUS nations set out how pillar 1 of the agreement would be achieved:

SSN-AUKUS (also recently referred to as SSN-A in the UK) will be based on the UK’s next-generation submarine design. That design will incorporate technologies from all three nations, including cutting-edge US submarine technologies.

    The submarines will be built in the UK and Australia and work will begin by 2030, to enter service toward the end of the 2030s (UK) and the early 2040s (Australia). In the interim, the US, pending Congressional approval, will sell Australia three Virginia-class SSNs, with the potential for the sale of a further two.

The government has not provided an estimated cost of the programme.

However, the government has announced significant new funding (£3 billion) to underpin the SSN-AUKUS programme, and the wider Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE), over the next two years.

Impact on UK industry

As with the current Astute and Dreadnought programmes, the UK’s submarines will be built by BAE Systems at Barrow-in-Furness and the nuclear propulsion units at Rolls Royce in Derby. Rolls Royce will also build all the nuclear reactors for Australia’s submarines.

The programme is expected to create thousands of jobs in the UK.

Concerns over non-proliferation

The AUKUS agreement is concerned solely with naval nuclear propulsion and does not contravene the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or Australia’s obligations under the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty.

However, there are concerns that it will set a bad precedent for nuclear non-proliferation efforts more broadly. To address those concerns the AUKUS nations have committed to ensuring the highest non-proliferation standards.