2 min read - 4 Aug, 2026
BAE Systems secures £5.9bn contract to advance Dreadnought submarine fleet
The government has awarded a new £5.9bn contract to BAE Systems, funding critical work to progress the nation’s Dreadnought Class nuclear deterrent submarines towards entry into service.
Work on Dreadnought, the first of the four new submarines, continues apace at BAE Systems’ shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, ready for delivery to the Royal Navy in the early 2030s.
The contract also covers continued progress on the build of boat two, Valiant, and fabrication and outfitting of the remaining two boats, Warspite and King George VI, which are in the early stages of construction.
The four-boat Dreadnought Class programme will replace the existing Barrow-built Vanguard fleet, ensuring continuation of the UK’s critical Continuous at Sea Deterrent capability. They will be the biggest, most powerful and technically advanced submarines ever built for the Royal Navy.
A contract worth £5.9bn has been awarded to BAE Systems to advance work on the country’s next generation of nuclear deterrent submarines / Picture: BAE Systems
The BAE Systems contract forms part of a wider £8.4bn package approved by parliament for the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The build programme is being delivered in collaboration with the MOD’s Defence Nuclear Enterprise, the partnership of organisations that operate, maintain, renew and sustain the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
Charles Woodburn, chief executive, BAE Systems, said: “The Dreadnought programme is of vital strategic importance to the UK, underpinning the security of our nation and our allies for decades to come.
“Its delivery depends on the strength of our national industrial base, with thousands of skilled workers right across the country playing their part in the mission to deliver this critical capability to the Royal Navy.”
In the last financial year, BAE Systems’ Dreadnought supply chain spend was £1.3bn, taking the total spent so far to £8.9bn across more than 1,500 UK suppliers.
The Dreadnought programme supports approximately 30,000 jobs across the country, with more than 7,000 people currently working on it at BAE Systems alone.
In September 2025, His Majesty King Charles III visited Barrow-in-Furness to bestow Royal Port status on the town, recognising the contribution it makes to UK defence. Over the past four years, £1bn has been invested in the BAE Systems Submarines site, and its workforce has expanded from 11,000 to approximately 16,000.
Ensuring that growth is felt across the town and the surrounding area, BAE Systems continues to invest heavily in community and training facilities and is working alongside central and local government as part of the Team Barrow partnership to deliver improvements via the £200m Barrow Transformation Fund.
