As part of the United Kingdom’s new Strategic Defence Review, it has been announced that the Royal Navy will expand its fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines with up to 12 new SSN-AUKUS units (compared to the 4 Vanguard-class currently in service), arguing that this is a necessity in light of the growing threats the country is facing. According to information provided through official channels, this is a project that will require the investment of over 15 billion pounds in the institution’s program known as the Continuous At-Sea Deterrent System, which will be framed within the British government’s Plan for Change.
Expanding on some details, the official statement notes that the program will support more than 30,000 jobs for the remainder of this decade and much of the next, broadly hinting at the current delivery timelines being considered. It has also been stated that the decision is part of a plan that seeks to address the 62 recommendations made by external experts to the Ministry of Defence in the most recent British Strategic Review, which establishes that the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces must increase their state of war readiness.
Quoting some statements by Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “This Strategic Defence Review will ensure that the United Kingdom rises to the challenge and that our Armed Forces have the equipment they need to keep us safe at home while also driving greater opportunities for our engineers, shipbuilders and technicians of the future.” For his part, Defence Secretary John Healey stated: “With new state-of-the-art submarines patrolling international waters and our own nuclear weapons program on Britain’s shores, we are making Britain safe at home and strong abroad.”
It is also worth highlighting at this point that a large portion of the planned investments will be allocated to modernising the infrastructure of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), which is located in the English town of Aldermaston; at whose main plant nearly 9,000 people are employed. As such, this part of the program constitutes the third key point of the government’s nuclear deterrence plan, which also includes maintaining an attack submarine capability that can keep units patrolling 365 days a year, in addition to the aforementioned expansion of units to be included in the Royal Navy.
Finally, it is important to bring up that the decision to expand the fleet of submarines with nuclear strike capability comes as London also seeks to expand its fighter jet inventory with the acquisition of new U.S.-made F-35A aircraft. This is no minor detail, considering that these are the only aircraft of their kind capable of carrying the B61 nuclear bombs operated by the U.S. Air Force, with the Royal Air Force awaiting negotiations that would allow it to once again possess such weapons for the first time since 1998.
*Images used for illustrative purposes
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