In response to the forthcoming Strategic Defence Review the UK is to expand the SSN-AUKUS submarine programme by up to five more boats.
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Press Release Extract, Whitehall, 01 June 2025: The Prime Minister will announce tomorrow that the UK’s conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet will be significantly expanded, with up to 12 new SSN-AUKUS boats to be built.
The announcement comes as the government unveils its new Strategic Defence Review tomorrow. The externally-led review is expected to recommend that our Armed Forces move to warfighting readiness to deter the growing threats faced by the UK. The report makes 62 recommendations, which the government is expected to accept in full.
That includes:
- A landmark shift in our deterrence and defence: moving to warfighting readiness to deter threats and strengthen security in the Euro Atlantic area;
- Increasing stockpiles of munitions and support equipment, ensuring that production capacities can rapidly scale up in response to crises or war;
- The procurement of up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons for the UK Armed Forces, supporting around 800 defence jobs, and boosting our military capabilities
- A new CyberEM Command to put the UK at the forefront of cyber operations, alongside £1bn investment in pioneering digital capability; and
- Improving the lives of thousands of British military personnel and their families through more than £1.5 billion of additional funding to repair and renew armed forces housing.
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Editor’s Footnote: In 1997 the John Major Government ordered the Astute-class of conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarines or SSN, of which five are currently in service with a sixth on trials and a seventh under construction. In 2023 under the Rishi Sunak Government it was confirmed that, as part of a joint AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) partnership, the first of the Royal Navy replacements for the seven-strong Astute-class would commence construction in Barrow-in-Furness in the late 2020s and was expected to be operational by the late 2030s.
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