The British government announced on Sunday October 1 that it had concluded contracts worth 4 billion pounds (4.6 billion euros), with several groups including BAE Systems, to finance a new phase of the submarine project. next generation SSN-AUKUS attack.
These contracts, which also involve the British groups Rolls-Royce and Babcock, are part of the Aukus military alliance concluded between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom to thwart Chinese ambitions in the region. Indo-Pacific.
“These submarines will strengthen the Royal Navy to maintain our strategic advantage under the seas,” Defense Minister Grant Shapps said, unveiling the new milestone at the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Manchester.
The American, British and Australian leaders unveiled last March the launch of this joint nuclear-powered submarine program (but without nuclear weapons on board). The British Prime Minister then praised “the most important multilateral defense agreement in generations”.
First deliveries at the end of the 2030s
In a separate statement, BAE Systems said the future SSN-Aukus “will be the largest, most powerful and most advanced submarine” supplied to the Royal Navy, and intended to “replace [the] Astute model.” For the British defense group, this state investment “will cover development work until 2028”, and the “recruitment of more than 5,000 people” at its Barrow-in-Furness site (north of England).
The first examples of this submarine are to be delivered at the end of the 2030s. Nuclear-powered submarines are difficult to detect, can travel great distances for long periods of time and can carry sophisticated cruise missiles.