Submersible Ship Nuclear Replacement (SSNR)
Design work for the next-generation of Royal Navy submarines is underway following the award of two contracts to UK industry, the Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced 17 September 2021. Two contracts worth £85-million each had been awarded to BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce to deliver design and concept work for a future Class of Royal Navy submarine.
SSNR emerged in 2019 from the Maritime Underwater Future Capability (MUFC) program to develop “future capability requirements and develop options to perform operations and tasks within the underwater environment when the current Astute Class Submarines leave service.”
No name has been assigned to this class, which might as well be called the Commonwealth [or Dominion] class, because it seems ideally suited fro collaboration with Australia, and possibly Canada. Just days before the UK announce the SSNR project, Australia cancelled further work on an existing conventional submarine contract with France, and announced its intention to proceed with a nuclear submarine with fellow Alglophones UK and USA, under the AUKUS alliance. In addition to the SSNR project, the US had embarked on a counterpart SSN-X project.
Australia, the US and the UK announced a new trilateral defense partnership called AUKUS in September 2021. The first initiative announced under the AUKUS defense pact was the development of nuclear-powered submarine technology for the Royal Australian Navy, so the Australian government decided to abandon its agreement, estimated at $66 billion at that time, with France's Naval Group company for the construction of diesel-electric submarines.
But the American SSN-X is probably rather more submarine the Austrlians are seeking, will not see new baost until the 2030s and the massive SSN-X design effort would probably prove rather indifferent to Australian input. In contrast, the SSNR project would see smaller boats in the water in the 2020s, and the six units of the SSNR class might prove quite amendable to dsign input from the Austrlian 8-boat class. Canada has a long standing desirement for SSNs to assert sovereignty in the far North, and may well see this as a unique opportunity to join the SSN club.
In 2019, H I Sutton suggested that "It is likely to be similar to the Dreadnought Class missile submarines currently being built, but without the missile compartment. It will thus be larger and longer than the current Astute Class boats. It should have the distinctive streamlined sail (called the fin in British parlance), X-form rudders and pump-jet propulsion."
Over the next three years and supporting 350 jobs in the process, the contracts will deliver design work to inform a future decision which will help define the replacement approach for the Astute Class submarines – the nuclear powered fleet of submarines (SSNs) currently in service with the Royal Navy. S119 Astute was placed in somicssion 27 August 2010, and by the relatively brief 25 year service life projected for boats of this calss, would be taken out of service around the year 2035. Astute was laid down in 2001, and launched in 2007. Based on this chronology, the first SSNR would need to be laid down in 2026 and launched in 2032.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Marking the start of a new journey for the Royal Navy’s submarines, British designers and engineers will lead the way in developing submarines for our Royal Navy. This multi-million pound investment ensures that this vital capability will be ready to replace our Astute Class submarines as they come out of service, whilst supporting high-skilled jobs across the Midlands and North West of England.”
In his role as Shipbuilding Tsar, the Defence Secretary is firmly committed to supporting the UK shipbuilding and maritime industries, of which these contracts will play an important role. Underpinned by the Prime Minister’s £24-billion increase in defence spending across four years, these contracts build upon commitments outlined in the recent Defence Command Paper ensuring that the Royal Navy has a world-leading underwater capability prepared to meet future threats.
Submarine Delivery Agency CEO, Ian Booth said: “Designing and building submarines is one of the most complex and challenging feats of engineering that the maritime industry undertakes. It is essential that work on the next generation underwater capability commences as early as possible. This relies on some of the nation’s most experienced defence nuclear experts from the very beginning of the design phase.”
The industry teams, including Babcock International, are working closely with MOD to mature early design work on a range of options for a new crewed nuclear-powered submarine known as the Submersible Ship Nuclear Replacement (SSNR).
The contract with BAE Systems in Barrow will sustain around 250 roles at the shipyard to develop the platform design and delivery arrangements. At Rolls Royce in Derby, approximately 100 jobs are expected to be sustained through the contract for the development of the Nuclear Steam Raising Plant and the production arrangements.
The United Kingdom signed contracts worth 4 billion pounds ($4.8 billion) with leading British manufacturers to develop powerful attack submarines as part of the AUKUS program with Australia and the United States, UK Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps said on 01 October 2023. "I can announce that we have signed contracts worth 4 billion pounds with leading British businesses to drive forward the development of the most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy," Shapps said at the 2023 Conservative Party Conference. The UK defense chief added that the new "hunter-killer" submarines would allow the country to maintain its strategic advantage under the sea and help fund thousands of jobs in the country.
Babcock signed a five-year contract with the Ministry of Defence to provide input into the detailed design for the new ‘Ship Submersible Nuclear AUKUS‘ (SSN-A) submarines, which will replace the Astute Class from the late 2030s. This is also the chosen design that Australia will use to build their new fleet, following the announcement from the Australian, United Kingdom and United States Governments regarding the optimal pathway for acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact.
Working alongside the MOD and our Enterprise Partners, Babcock’s contract scope includes applying its extensive experience of complex submarine in-service support and maintenance, to build this into the design to maximise the submarines’ availability throughout its service life. This contract award builds on work Babcock has already been delivering during the previous Programme Definition and Design Phase.
Babcock CEO David Lockwood said: “Babcock plays a critical role in submarine programmes, supporting submarine availability in the UK and internationally. The importance of applying our extensive knowledge and long-standing experience is being recognised through this contract award to ensure that the new Class delivers the operational availability through life that the Royal Navy requires. In addition, we look forward to providing ongoing support to help deliver capability for the Royal Australian Navy under the AUKUS agreement.”
Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps said, “This multi-billion-pound investment in the AUKUS submarine programme will help deliver the long term hunter-killer submarine capabilities the UK needs to maintain our strategic advantage and secure our leading place in a contested global order. “I’m committed to backing our defence industry, because it’s only with the mission critical support of businesses like Babcock that the UK can develop the advanced equipment our Armed Forces need to defend the British people in a more dangerous world.”
Babcock has a proven track record for managing complex assets in highly regulated environments. Owning and operating the UK’s only Nuclear Licensed facility for refitting, refuelling and defueling nuclear submarines, Babcock sustains the entirety of the Royal Navy’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet, including the delivery of through-life support and life extension of the Vanguard, Trafalgar, and Astute Submarine Classes.
As the premier warship sustainment company in Australia and New Zealand, underpinned by global experience, Babcock stands ready to help grow Australia’s local industrial capability to support the acquisition and operation of their new submarine fleet – helping to make a safe and secure world together.
Liam Garman wrote 01 July 2024, "Despite re-assurances from the UK’s presumptive Minister for Asia and the Pacific, a hard-left UK Labour Party and the risk of resurgent Corbynism will pose an existential threat to AUKUS and Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine ambitions. In a recent interview with the AFR, the UK’s Minister for Asia and the Pacific in-waiting Catherine West sought to quell Australia’s concerns over where a Starmer Labour government might leave the AUKUS trilateral security dialogue. To West’s credit, an Australian herself who moved to the United Kingdom, she told the masthead that the AUKUS agreement would continue to go from “strength to strength” and that the United Kingdom would seek to deepen military dialogue with Australia. "West’s optimism, however, doesn’t reflect Labour’s deeply held anti-AUKUS sentiment. During the party’s Annual Conference in 2021, 70 percent of party delegates voted against the tripartite security alliance. The emergency motion didn’t mince its words: “Conference believes that in contradiction to Tory PM Johnson’s statement that ‘this will promote stability in the Indo-Pacific region’, in fact, this is a dangerous move which will undermine world peace.” ..... It’s clear that Corbynist ideology still permeates Labour’s backbenches. Labour’s Socialist Campaign Group has continued to be actively driving party policy, including encouraging votes against AUKUS. It has also continued its relations with the pro-Russian Stop the War Coalition."
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