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Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said: “The
UK has been committed to a continuous at-sea deterrent for more than
45 years. This is because it is the responsibility of the British Government
to protect its citizens and provide this vital line of defence. It is
therefore crucial that we continue to invest in the Successor programme
to be ready for a final decision on renewal next year.
“It is thanks to our long-term economic plan that we are able
to invest in this latest wave of design funding, which will help to
secure the jobs of hundreds of people working across the MOD’s
three main industrial partners working on the Successor programme. This
underlines how important this work is to the British economy as well
as the future security of the UK.”
The contracts fund the next stage of design work for the new class of
submarines, designed to carry the UK's independent nuclear deterrent.
The programme recently passed a major design review and is now more
than halfway through its five-year Assessment Phase.
Tony Johns, the Managing Director at BAE Systems' Submarines, said:
"Designing a new, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine is
one of the most challenging engineering projects in the world today.
The Successor programme is the largest and most complex project we have
ever faced. This funding will now allow us to mature the design over
the next 12 months to enable us to start construction in 2016."
Approximately 6,500 people are employed at BAE Systems' site in Barrow,
where the Company is also building the Astute class - seven state-of-the-art
nuclear-powered attack submarines for the Royal Navy. Last year, the
Company created 900 skilled jobs and recruitment is set to continue
throughout 2015.
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