Home · Business · Oct 5 archive
Rolls-Royce Secures £9 Billion Contract for UK Submarine Reactors
Confirmed
In Short: Rolls-Royce has signed a landmark £9 billion contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to support the design, build, and maintenance of nuclear reactors for the Royal Navy's submarine fleet.
Rolls-Royce has signed a landmark £9 billion contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to support the design, build, and maintenance of nuclear reactors for the Royal Navy's submarine fleet. The eight-year agreement, announced on Monday, marks a significant shift towards sustained nuclear-submarine production.
The contract includes continued support for the build and commission of Dreadnought Class submarines and the beginning of the previously announced SSN-AUKUS contracts. It also brings opportunities to the supply chain, the vast majority of which is in the UK.
According to the Defence Nuclear Enterprise 2026 Annual Update to Parliament, the programme is progressing through its Detailed Design and Long Lead phase. Contracts worth about £4 billion have already been placed for design work and the industrial infrastructure required for production.
Rolls-Royce is expanding its Raynesway site near Derby to meet higher demand for naval nuclear reactors. The company will also continue construction of all four planned submarines under the contract at its Barrow-in-Furness shipyard.
The investment marks a shift towards sustained nuclear-submarine production rather than capacity built around individual programmes. It would allow industry to construct SSN-AUKUS attack submarines in parallel with the Dreadnought ballistic-missile fleet.
The Unity contract is the first of its kind awarded by the UK MoD and is the culmination of years of planning between Rolls-Royce and UK MoD, potentially creating a new way of doing business between Government and industry.
Defence Secretary, John Healey MP, will announce the deal today on a visit to Rolls-Royce’s nuclear reactor production facility in Derby. He will speak with staff and apprentices, and use the visit to reinforce the Government’s commitment to the ‘triple-lock’ on the nuclear deterrent.
The contract is designed to incentivise an even more collaborative working relationship between Rolls-Royce and the UK MoD. It also draws together current and upcoming work into one portfolio, streamlining previous contracts and incentivising more efficient delivery.
The agreement will create an additional 1,000 new roles within Rolls-Royce Submarines by the end of the contract. Around 7,000 people are employed on Dreadnought at Barrow and roughly 30,000 jobs across the country depend on the nuclear deterrent program.
The contract also includes continued support of the in-service UK Royal Navy submarine fleet throughout the period, marking the UK’s commitment to the continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent and Rolls-Royce’s continuing dedication to the UK Royal Navy and the Defence Nuclear Enterprise.
What this adds
This marks a strategic move to ensure continuous at-sea nuclear deterrence.
The contract underscores the UK’s commitment to the continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent.
The investment marks a shift towards sustained nuclear-submarine production rather than capacity built around individual programmes.
Background
Rolls-Royce has signed a landmark £9 billion contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to support the design, build, and maintenance of nuclear reactors for the Royal Navy's submarine fleet.
What's confirmed
- Britain is investing about £6 billion to expand BAE Systems’ submarine shipyard and Rolls-Royce’s nuclear-reactor facilities before SSN-AUKUS construction begins in 2027.
- The programme is progressing through its Detailed Design and Long Lead phase, according to the *Defence Nuclear Enterprise 2026 Annual Update to Parliament*.
- Contracts worth about £4 billion have already been placed for design work and the industrial infrastructure required for production.
- Rolls-Royce is expanding its Raynesway site near Derby to meet higher demand for naval nuclear reactors.
- Canberra is investing £2.4 billion over ten years to expand Rolls-Royce infrastructure and share the cost of designing the submarine.
- The investment marks a shift towards sustained nuclear-submarine production rather than capacity built around individual programmes.
- It would allow industry to construct SSN-AUKUS attack submarines in parallel with the Dreadnought ballistic-missile fleet.
- Britain has not yet decided how many SSN-AUKUS submarines it will order.
- It also includes continued support of the build and commission of Dreadnought Class submarines and the beginning of the previously announced SSN-AUKUS contracts.
- The Unity contract also brings opportunities to the supply chain, the vast majority of which is in the UK.
- Home » Rolls-Royce signs landmark Unity contract with UK Ministry of Defence Unity will enable improved focus on simplification and efficiency and better outcomes for the UK Royal Navy.
- Rolls-Royce designs, builds and maintains all of the nuclear reactors that power the Royal Navy’s fleet of submarines.
What's still developing
- The agency was established in 2015 to oversee nuclear submarine procurement.
- A Rolls-Royce PWR3 reactor powers an electric pump-jet propulsor, enabling speeds over 20 knots and nearly unlimited range.
- Data, Freedom of Information releases and corporate reports A major deal, worth approximately £9 billion, has been struck with British firm Rolls-Royce to bolster support to the Royal Navy’s fleet of nuclear submarines, boosting national security and economic growth and delivering on the government’s Plan for Change.
- In line with our Plan for Change, this deal with Rolls-Royce, a historic British success-story, will support high-skilled UK jobs who equip the thousands of submariners that keep us all safe.